


Family Matters

by chadleorio



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mafia AU, Angst and Feels, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, Domestic Fluff, Family Bonding, Hospitalization, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kidnapping, Leorio and Killua father son bonding time, M/M, Mnetions Surgery/Medical Information, Typical Zoldyck Abuse mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:01:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 34,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26409904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chadleorio/pseuds/chadleorio
Summary: Kurapika is a mafia boss and they're okay with that. What he doesn't realize is that when they're hurt, they drag a civillian doctor into it and his family. They try to dig the family out but it goes deeper than any of them realize.
Relationships: Kurapika/Leorio Paladiknight
Comments: 9
Kudos: 113
Collections: HXHBB20





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> god this is for the hxh big bang that got postponed and ive been vibrating tying to like not post this for so long bc im so excited abt it. I swear its not that hard to read bc i tagged the stuff i could remember but i put s much leopika in as i could uwu

They aren’t sure where they stumble in. They just know that it’s a hospital waiting room. That’s the only thing they could comprehend once they read that on the sign outside.They’re bleeding and so, so tired. 

They stagger through the door and a flurry of people immediately surround them, yelling different things to each other. They all try to get their hand off the door but it was the only thing they could do is clutch onto the frame.

A doctor with wire rimmed glasses is the only one able to remove it by saying, “You need to let go. We have to lay you down to treat you.”

His voice is so soft and calming in their dazed state that it makes them let go immediately. They’re given a smile before the doctor immediately launches into asking something. Nothing really made its way through to them and they’re so exhausted but they stay alert. They couldn’t lose consciousness, not yet. Only the nice doctor was able to put the IV in and start giving them fluids.

“Do you know what you were shot with,” the doctor asks.

“Bergara B-14,” they respond immediately. 

There are only certain guns that people used in families and those’re common.

The doctor smiles at him again before turning to the nurses. “Find any bullet casing for a Bergara B-14 in their clothes or on the sheet that you can. The bleeding is coming from three centimetres below the right nipple. There’s suction on the wound so there could be a collapsed lung and infection. Prep OR 3 right now. From the look of their abdomen there’s internal bleeding. Monitor them for infection. Bergaras are high velocity so have cephalosporin prophylaxis ready in the OR in case of rapid decline.”

There is even more motion now and their clothes are soon changed out for blankets and people are shining things in their eyes, checking their blood pressure, and trying to ask them things. Constant pressure was put on their chest that was leading to increased pain that kept them awake. They refused anesthetic repeatedly, moving their arms quickly when a nurse tried multiple times.

The doctor came into view and said, “We need to put you to sleep. We have to put you under to make sure nothing major is wrong. It’s simple and you should only be out for maybe an hour. We won’t take the bullet out as it’s too close to vital areas as far as we know right now. We’re just stitching you up and making sure you aren’t bleeding internally in major areas.”

That was when they finally nod, offering their arm out, and letting them put the IV in. Anesthetics came next and they accept it without a fight. 

Like the doctor said, it is a simple procedure. It’s too risky to make big incisions and dig around for the bullet. They just needed to stop the bleeding, make sure nothing was wrong internally, and to stabilize them. 

After they are done in the operating room, the doctor, Leorio Palidknight, staggers off to lay down, collapsing into a bunk and just barely managing to take his glasses off. He sets a timer for 15 minutes so he could still eat before his break is up but it didn’t even go off. 

“Dr. Paladiknight to ER Bay 3, please. Dr. Paladiknight to ER bay 3.” A nurse says over the intercom.

He groans and pulls himself up, pushing his glasses on, and staggering out to the ER. He is directed towards a patient currently going into cardiac arrest. He was put under for pain after a nasty fall in his home. They’re waiting for him to wake up to see if he would need to stay overnight. 

Leorio starts asking questions and took over doing compressions so the nurses could follow his instructions. 

He soon went back into surgery for a double bypass for another two hours. He didn’t finish the surgery before he got paged about somebody coming through from the ambulance from a drunk driving incident. 

And it stays like that all night. Constant with almost never any time to stop for more than five minutes until he is called off to look at another patient. He is used to it by now as he is the only qualified surgeon in the small hospital on shift. But man did it take so much out of him and he barely got to see his kids for it. 

Before he leaves, he has to check on the mystery man that had come through with a gunshot. That is the last thing he needs to do then he can go home, have a shower, see his kids off to school, and eat maybe. That would be good. 

He walks into the room the person is being kept, looking over the chart for their vitals and if anything happened and looks up to them staring him down. 

“Morning, sleepy head.” Leorio says, with a small grin. “I’m Dr. Paladiknight, just call me Leorio. I hate the formalness when you’re going to be here for a while. Mind telling us a name we can use and some small things about you and family history for us to know how to treat you?”

“No,” they say. 

Leorio sighs, sitting in the chair next to the bed. They had been moved out of recovery to a room in the maternity ward that was empty. He rubs underneath his glasses before saying, “I know you’re probably very important in illegal businesses. But there's such a thing as patient confidentiality I still have to follow. You didn’t cause anybody harm and if you do drugs we need to know so we don’t give you anything that could kill you.”

They look appalled at the latter statement. “I don’t drink, do drugs, or smoke thank you.”

“Well those are one of my questions then. Do you take regular medication?”

That is the wrong thing to ask though as they immediately look out the window and pointedly don’t say anything. Leorio feels himself almost groan. This is going to be like pulling teeth trying to get answers. 

“Alright so we’ll skip that one then. Can I ask about family history? Heart disease, cancer, diabetes?”

“I don’t know.”

“Okay what about your medical past. Any major surgeries within your life?”

“Yes.”

“What was it?”

“I’m guessing you saw my scarring on my chest.”

“Oh, right, right. Was it for breast cancer or-”

They look over sharply and Leorio smiles at them.

“I’m kidding, I know it was top surgery. They never redo the nipples right. Mine look awful. You also use the patch for testosterone don’t you? How long?”

“About two years. And I use they pronouns”

“Alright...What dosage do you use, we have to change that. We had to remove the patch for sanitary reasons in the OR. We don’t know when you change them so they need to be made aware, the nurses.”

“I can do it myself. Do not worry about this. I will be leaving soon once I am able to contact the people I need to.”

“We have to keep you for observation in case of infection for at least three days. We can call people to come keep you company in the meantime but you are not moving from this hospital for a little.”

They gave a small ‘tch’ in disapproval but didn’t argue. Leorio looks over the remaining questions and hums as he thinks.

“I still need a name for you. Unless you want to be billed as something ridiculous.” Leorio says after a moment.

“Kurapika. Call my assistant for me so they know where I am.”

“I can do that. I’ll leave the number with the nurses and make sure you tell them the dose for your patch so you don’t miss too many. I can give you some from the pharmacy down the road if they don’t have it here for some reason.”

“...Fine.”

Leorio waves as he leaves and closes the door quietly. He drops the file on the reception desk. 

He leans over, smiling to the nurse, whispering behind his hand. “Their name’s Kurapika and they’re on testosterone patches so you’ll need to look around for those in the pharmacy when they finally tell you the dosage. Keep this quiet as it’s not anybody’s business but those that need to know.”

The nurse nods, taking the file from the counter. “I’ll keep it in mind. Now you have a couple visitors to take you home.”

The nurse points to the waiting room where Gon, Alluka, and Killua are all sitting watching Killua playing a video game. Alluka is the first to notice him, tugging at Killua’s sleeve before pointing. Gon looks up and threw himself out of the chair, launching at Leorio.

Leorio laughs, catching him easily and putting Gon into a headlock, ruffling his hair. He let him go and soon Alluka was running up, happily latching onto his waist. Killua was the one to hang back, waving as he still was playing his game.

“Whoa! Hey, kids!” Shouldn’t you guys be getting ready for school at home? I thought Mito took you guys in for me?” Leorio asked.

“She did! But we wanted to see you before school! Kalluto had something to do early so they didn’t come with.” Gon explains. “It’s okay because now we can walk to school with you!”

Leorio, exhausted and barely able to stand, smiles and nods. “That would be great! Mito already got you guys fed for me so all I have to do is see you off.”

“Hey, hey can you give me a piggyback?” Alluka asks, raising her arms excitedly.

Leorio laughs and crouches down, letting her climb on. She is like nothing even though she was getting close to 13 and has a backpack stuffed for school. Gon quickly leads the way with Killua trailing behind, most likely to keep an eye on Alluka. He is constantly protective of her even after about two years of being away from his family.

“Did you guys finish your homework last night?” Leorio asks.

“I didn’t have any!” Alluka says excitedly. “Since our break for spring is coming up, the teacher is letting us not read anymore for homework!”

“Oh, isn’t that nice? Did you have any, Killua?”

“No…”

“Yes you did!” Gon pipes up. “You asked me for the answers last night.”

“Killua,” Leorio says warningly.

“What! It was boring! I know what I’m doing so what’s the point of me doing it.”

“It’s part of your grade, so you have to do it. Besides, it's practice. It’s always good to have extra practice in stuff.”

“Whatever, not like our teacher cares.”

“I care though, it’s your responsibility to do it.”

Killua crosses his arms and Leorio lets it drop. They all chatted until they got to the middle school Alluka and Kalluto went to. She shimmies off his back and runs to give Killua a hug. He pats her head and gives her forehead a kiss before she runs off to the playground with the other kids. 

They kept going the extra two blocks to the high school. Gon and Killua wave goodbye. Gon gave Leorio a high five before leaving. Leorio waits until they are in the building until he starts back home. 

Their house is about two streets up from the schools with the hospital Leorio works at being at the town centre. It was a smaller town than the city Leorio grew up in and the mansion that the kids lived in before, but Gon and Mito opened their house willingly to the kids while Leorio is getting everything ready. Gon grew up here and met Killua online. Leorio was friendly with Mito from being at the same college and kept in touch over the years. Soon, Leorio met Killua when he was visiting and they heard him talking about his home life. It wasn’t long before Mito and Leorio decided they needed to do something. 

He was only 26 and recently out of med school and his residency program. He honestly never thought that he would be a dad so soon after school but he was fine with it. Mito helped a lot and was happy to look after the kids when he was forced to work a ridiculous night shift that started at five and ended at six the next morning.

He didn’t even make it into the door before he felt himself starting to stagger. He drops his briefcase full of stuff he has to sign and file, kicks his shoes off, and undoes his tie hurriedly. He barely manages to even get his glasses off. That is always the hard one to remember as he is so used to having them on. He crashes face first into the covers, pulling the blanket at the end of the bed over him sloppily before he passes out.


	2. Chapter 2

He wakes up to his cell phone going off. He blindly slaps the bedside table before realizing it was still in his pocket. He pulls it out and answers, rubbing his eyes and giving a groggy greeting.

“Hey, Doc...so…” They falter and Leorio knew what this was about.

“You need me to come in early I’m guessing.” Leorio says.

The nurse sighs. “Yes. Dr. Reinherdt called in. Said something about a family emergency? I’m not sure he’s hard to make out. His shift started at 2 and I know you were supposed to be off but we don’t have a doctor for the ER all night if we don’t-”

“It’s fine. I’ll ask Ms. Mito to look after the kids again tonight. I’m there until two?”

“Hopefully. There’s Dr. Leslie coming in after you for the rest of the night and some of the morning and then its...you…”

“I’m in at 9, yes.” Leorio sits up, rubbing his eyes more harshly. “Reinhardt won’t cover so no use in asking, he never does. It’s fine. As long as the ER doesn’t shut down.” 

Leorio gets ready quickly and leaves his house in record time. He went down two houses to Gon’s Aunt Mito.

He knocks and hears shuffling behind the door. Mito opens, giving him a smile, and wiping her hands on a dish towel.

“Hello, Leorio. What are you doing up so early? I saw you walking home this morning after the kids left to greet you. It can’t have been more than five hours you slept.”

“It was something like that, yes. I need another favour.” Leorio says, rubbing the back of his neck shyly. “I’m sorry to ask this of you so often but can you look after the kids again tonight. Somebody called in so I have to be the doctor to cover or the ER will close. You know the drill. If you can’t I’ll figure-”

“Nonsense, of course I’ll look after them. It’s not like it’s uncommon for this to happen. I’ll pick them up from school and bring them here as usual.”

Leorio smiles, giving a laugh. “Are you sure you don’t want any kind of payment? I could buy groceries since those boys can eat you out in one sitting.”

“Not necessary,” Mito says, putting her hands on her hips. She may have been shorter but she still never falters to make Leorio lean back just a little. “Those kids are a joy, albeit a handful, and you can’t help your schedule at work. Now, have you eaten? I can make you something while you’re here.”

“No, no,” Leorio says, waving his hands quickly. “I have to work at two so it’s best I get going. I’ll get something at the cafeteria before I start.”

“Oh, wait here for a second. Alluka and Kalluto helped me make cookies and they forgot them this morning but they wanted to give you them.”

Mito disappears down the hall, Leorio stepping into the doorway. Mito came back with the package of wrapped cookies and put her hands on her hips. 

“Since the kids are staying over again, you’ll be coming to stay the night when you are off. The kids haven’t seen you and miss you so no arguing.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll make sure to call them when I can if I have a break before they’re in bed.”

He waves as he stepped off the porch. Mito watches him disappear forlornly before disappearing herself back into the house. 

Leorio got to the hospital and sits in the cafeteria eating a sandwich, idly looking through his phone while he does. 

His work during the day is still fast paced and it is hard but he prefers the day. It’s more welcome than the night as more dangerous people are out then and he knew a lot more of the patients. 

It all changed last year when a supposed mafia family moved into an old farm house at the edge of town. It was in a big field surrounded by trees overgrown with time. It was a common place for teenagers to do dumb things together and animals festered in the crevices away from the cold. But suddenly it was bought from the old owner who inherited it through family and was being renovated. 

The rumor started when construction companies from around town started telling others what the renovations were like. A panic room for a basement, the barn in the back was a front for underground construction, crazy stuff like that. Some people didn’t believe them and thought they were just starting gossip in the town; some believed them wholeheartedly with others staying on the fence.

Leorio didn’t partake too much in the gossip and just let people talk around him. He just knew that within the year a lot more people turned up with gunshot, knife, and straight up mysterious wounds. There was one person that had mercury poisoning he had to treat and he said he accidentally drank an old thermometor’s fluid.

By six, it had lulled out and the usual scramble in the ER calms a little bit. Leorio can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. He has rounds to do and hadn’t been able to start them from the influx of patients. The nurses have their hands full enough so he has to help with ER patients more than he would have liked.

He picks up some files, chats at the nurse’s station, and then starts his rounds with Kurapika. Their room is the closest to the nurses station so it is the easiest. He isn’t a fan of the rounds but the hospital president said it help build a bond with the patient that had them recommending the hospital or something. 

He steps into Kurapika’s room, closing the door softly behind him. Kurapika looks expectantly at him as Leorio walks in. He takes the chart from the end of the bed and checks it over idly.

“Well,” Leorio says, “you have no sign of infection currently, your lung hasn’t deflated, and your cracked ribs are starting to heal better. By tomorrow, if it stays this good you’ll be on your way out of here day after tomorrow, as planned .”

“Good. I have work to do.”

Kurapika looks out the window and Leorio pulls a chair close. They look over, startled, and Leorio calmly takes his pen light out of his chest pocket and shines it in Kurapika’s eyes.

“Just checking everything’s fine. The usual. The nurses said you were hard to take care of since you hate people touching you.”

Kurapika doesn’t say anything, their lips pursing tightly. 

“Cut them some slack and let them take your blood already. We just need to make sure everything stays fine.”

“I understand that.” Kurapika says. 

“You’re scared of needles, aren’t you?”

They didn’t have to answer as Leorio could tell he hit the nail on the head. He shakes his head, getting up to wash his hands and grabbing some gloves. 

“What are you doing?” They ask, trying to shift away quickly.

“Don’t move too much still. You’re going to tear stitching if you aren’t careful. We haven’t been able to take blood from you and we have to. Unless you want me to keep you here until we can deem you able to leave.”

“I would prefer not to.”

“They aren’t that bad the little poke is the worst but,” Leorio gets back up and starts rooting through a bedside table near the door. He gives a little ‘a-ha’ and comes back holding a little stuffed bear with a bright red bow. “Hold this while I do it and I’ll talk to you while we do it, it’ll be fine.”

Kurapika looks over in disdain, narrowing their eyes. “Are you making fun of me?”

“Of course not, I’ve given candy to 40 plus year olds because they were scared of needles, too. Holding this will help you out.”

“This is ridiculous. I’m not doing that.”

“Okay well I’ll start taking your blood then without it since you’re so strong.” 

Leorio sits back down and starts getting everything ready again. He is about to start when Kurapika pulls their arm away quickly. They stare intently out the window again for a moment before holding their hand out.

“I’ll take the bear,” they say.

Leorio smiles, reaching over to grab it. He changes his gloves, sanitizing them before he grabs them.

“It really does help. My daughter, Alluka, was scared of dogs. Little pinch. Her other family had a really scary one for her since she was so little. It took her brother bringing the smallest puppy I have ever seen home and getting her to pet it and have it lick her hand for her to start being less afraid. She won’t stop begging for a dog now.”

Kurapika has their eyes shut tightly and clutches the bear like a lifeline but smiles at that. “Do you have many kids?”

“I have three officially but a friend from college has a nephew she takes care of. His dad’s something else so she took him in when kid was a baby for him. My kids are over there a lot especially with how insane my schedule can get as a surgeon.”

“How old are they?”

“Killua is the oldest at 16 right now, Kalluto is 12, and Alluka is 13.” Leorio sits back up from where he was hunched and continues, “All done. It was better than getting shot, I feel.”

“I’d rather get shot. Then I don’t feel the needles.”

Leorio leaves the room soon after that. He doesn’t stick around long in his rounds. He motions to the nurses station the three vials he has. Nancy rushes over, excitedly, and takes them to the lab.

On his lunch, Leorio eats quickly and soon is moving to where the bunks are. He set a timer for 15 minutes so he still has time to talk to the kids before his break ends. It felt like he had barely laid down before he hears his alarm. 

There is another nurse in there that groans at the alarm and shoves his head underneath his pillow. Leorio shuts it off and steps into where the lockers are in the next room.

He dials Mito’s house phone and it doesn’t even ring twice before Gon picks it up eagerly, yelling into the phone, “Leorio!”

“Hey, kid,” Leorio says, having to hold his head away at Gon’s voice. “I’m calling to check in on everybody while I’m still on break. I didn’t expect anybody but Mito to still be up, honestly.”

“We’re all watching movies! Tomorrow is a half day so Aunt Mito is letting us stay up a little later.”

“Oh, that’s good. How was school for you?”

“It was fine, we got a project and me and Killua get to do it together! That’s going to be really fun as it’s about how medications affect the brain so you can help us on it too if we get stuck!”

“That sounds interesting! Is it for biology?”

“Yeah! Killua picked out the topic from what the teacher put on the board. We’re going to present on Tuesday, findings we got.”

“Killua is pretty good at that stuff too though so you probably won’t struggle that much.”

“Maybe! I’ll go get him so he can talk to you.”

Gon is heard yelling at the other side and there is some shuffling as the phone is handed over. They all took turns talking to Leorio over the next couples minutes. He feels bad but he has to hurry through their conversations. When it is Alluka’s turn he has to cut it short as he hears over the speakers, “-Dr. Paladiknight to the ER”

“I have to go, I just got called. Be good for Mito, I love you all, bye!” He says quickly.

He hangs up and quickly sprints to the ER, washing his hands and getting gloves on as a nurse tells him about three incoming ambulances from a four car pile up on the highway outside of town.

At the end of his shift, Leorio put his lab coat into his locker, putting his ID into his briefcase, and tiredly made his way out of the hospital. He steps into the night, the stillness never failing to surprise him. Everytime he was off at night and had to come home, it shocked him how much the town died down. He expects as much as it is 3:30AM currently but he never really clued in until he stepped outside.

He makes his way to Mito’s house, seeing the hall light on for him. He walked in, taking his shoes off before he went further inside. He sees the light is dimmed in the side room and peeks in.

Everybody is gathered there with the TV flickering. Killua is the only one awake to watch it. Kalluto is curled up beside him against the arm of the couch with Alluka using Killua as a pillow. Mito is in an armchair beside the couch similarly curled up with Gon splayed on the floor between the two seats. Killua looks up and waves gently and Leorio couldn’t help but smile. 

He takes Alluka off Killua’s lap first and carries her into the guest room she usually sleeps in, soon taking Kalluto into the same room. There is a bed set up on the floor but Alluka likes to cling to somebody in her sleep a lot. 

“Do you want me to carry you to bed too?” He asks Killua when he walks back into the common room.

Killua feels his face flush. “Of course not, stupid. I can walk fine.”

Gon stirs at Killua’s voice, sitting up, and looking around. He lit up at Leorio, excitedly exclaiming, “Leorio! You’re home!”

“Sh,” Leorio says frantically. “Alluka and Kalluto are in the guest room asleep still! You don’t want-”

There is the sound of feet on the floor as Alluka excitedly runs into the room, leaping onto Leorio. He catches her easily, letting her hang off him like a Koala.

“Good to see you, Princess. You should be asleep though. Is Kalluto-?”

“Can you come and share with us? I want to sleep with you tonight, Leorio! Kalluto won’t mind if we all share. They like sharing!” Alluka asks excitedly. She looks behind her and Kalluto, who has followed more quietly, nods their agreement.

“As long as you’re both fine with it. But Killua, you’re with-?”

“He’s with me!” Gon says happily. He jumps up, looking at Killua. “Bet I’ll get to bed first.”

Killua snorts, jumping off the couch and rushing past Gon, who is quick to follow. Mito wakes up during them deciding where to sleep and quickly starts clearing the dishes of popcorn around the floor, turning the lights off, and making everything tidy again. 

Leorio gets the other two kids settled but is soon pulled into the bed before he could take much more than his tie and glasses off by the two.

“I can’t even get some pyjamas?” he asks jokingly.

“No!” Alluka says, giggling. 

She is fast to fall asleep and soon Kalluto does. The two snuggled right into Leorio. 

They all wake up from Leorio’s phone. He set an alarm to get them all up and Kalluto is fast to jump up to get their bag and get ready. Alluka takes more coaxing though as she tries to bury herself back into the blankets.

“Come on, Princess. If you don’t go to school, we can’t all have movie night together.” Leorio says pulling the blankets up so he could see her face.

She looks up excitedly and bolts out of bed, going to find her bag of clothes too. 

When Leorio comes out of the bathroom, he sees Alluka and Killua run into the kitchen and smiles. He saw Kalluto ready to flip the pancakes Mito was making with a spatula at the griddle. Gon was at the table animatedly talking about something to the other two.

“Record time, Killua,” Leorio says. 

“Do any of you guys want something in your pancakes?” Mito askes from the counter. 

Gon and Killua both excitedly say chocolate while Alluka, not to be out done, said at the same volume blueberries. Mito somehow understood all of that and nods, getting to work. 

They all eat fast and pile the dishes in the sink before splitting off to gather the rest of their stuff for their school bags. Kalluto asks Leorio to help them find their notebook for history and Alluka is trying to find her stuffed doll, Nanika. 

Once everybody is gathered at the front door, Leorio stops and asks, “Do you guys need anything for lunch like money?”

“It’s only half a day so we can just go back home for that!” Gon says.

He nods and leads the way, Mito locking the door behind them as they left. 

They drop Alluka and Kalluto off first as always then Killua and Gon. The kids are noisy and excited as they walk like always and are just as happy to be at school. Killua and Gon aren’t as enthusiastic as they aren’t allowed to be as carefree in high school anymore.

It is the calm mornings like these that he wonders if he should stop working the hours he does every week just because he loves his kids. He wasn’t sure when Mito said that he should take them in but he really is in his stride now. It took some time but having them trust him and be actively excited to see him after working so long was such a nice feeling to come home to after some of the shifts he had to deal with. 

Mito and Leorio talk on their way back with Leorio telling her about his day and her telling him about hers. When they reached Mito’s driveway, they parted ways

“I’ll get going then.” Leorio says, “I have to finish getting ready at my house so thank you, truly for helping me like you do with the kids.”

Mito waves it off as usual. “I know what it’s like to raise kids with a busy schedule. I had to raise Gon when his good for nothing father left him with me while I was in university.”

Leorio sighs and shakes his head, too. Mito had called him asking for help because they were in the same courses in university when he was just starting out. She only had his number in the class because they sat beside each other a lot and she needed help when Gon had gotten a bad fever in the middle of the night. Her mom sadly passed away the year before and so Leorio took pity and came over to help. They bonded and soon became good friends over helping raise Gon over the next few years. 

“I’ll call you if I need to stay later than usual so if the kids don’t know, you can tell them.” Leorio says. 

He waves and walks into his house, Mito going into hers. They had stood for a few minutes at her driveway just talking but Leorio had to get to work.

He walks into work within the hour. He is greeted by everybody and he smiles easily. He is twenty minutes early as always and since he was only there till six he might be able to get away with not staying over. He hopes.

First, as always, he has to do his rounds and check on all his patients. The main one to check on is Kurapika, who they are debating on releasing today. He quickly walks over to their room, knocking sharply. Kurapika gave the okay to come in and he stepped in.

“Hello, I see that you didn’t let the nurses take your blood last night. I’ll have to do that before you leave. I’ll be checking your bandaging and vitals as well.” Leorio says, quickly taking the chart from the end of the bed and looking it over idly.

He makes quick work of checking everything he needs to. Kurapika is still uptight but at least let him check their bandages for infection and do basic vitals. 

“Alright, good stuff.” Leorio says, throwing his gloves away. “Now comes the hard part as I need blood again so do you have Mr. Bear?”

“Do I have-Excuse me?” Kurapika sits up straight and immediately winces, putting a gentle hand on their chest.

Leorio rolls his eyes. “Mr. Bear, the teddy bear. That’s his name. Or do you want to be a big boy today and go without him?”

“No...I’ll take Mr...Bear.” Kurapika says, struggling to say the name.

“I’m kidding his name is Theodore Rosevelt. But thank you for saying Mr. Bear because that was very fun for me.” Leorio winked and went to the cabinet in the room for the bear.

He hands it to Kurapika who takes it harshly. They wouldn’t look at Leorio as he washes his hands and gets more gloves on but that was fine with Leorio. He sits back down and starts getting everything ready but soon Kurapika refuses to give Leorio their arm. Leorio stares at them in annoyance but they still won’t budge, just staring back at him.

“I don’t have time for a staring match, kid.” Leorio says.

“I’m 27. I’m not a kid.”

“You sure look it. You still have a baby face. Now give me your arm. Do I need to talk about my kids again for it to work this time, too?”

Kurapika closes their eyes, taking in a deep breath before they set their arm on the edge of the bed and on top of the side table Leorio had everything set up on. 

“See now was that so hard. You’re one of the worse ones for needles, I’ll tell ya. At least you haven’t thrown anything at me.”

“I could, if you really wanted.”

“I’m fine. I rather like my glasses and don’t have the time to get a new pair.”

Kurapika snorts. “They look ridiculous.”

“My kid, Kalluto, says they rather like them so I think they’re stylish. Also I’m blind if I don’t use them for up close stuff.”

Kurapika scoffs, clutching the bear like a lifeline. They look out the window and refuse to look back over.

“Do you have-little pinch. Do you have anybody coming to visit you?”

“No. My phone is broken so I can’t call anybody. It’s what saved me from the first bullet.”

“You can ask for change for the payphones. We have that in a bag by the front desk for that exactly. Just ask one of the nurses.”

“Perhaps. I assume you will not let me leave without a ride home?”

“Correct. You cannot walk like you are and should lay off it for the next couple of weeks too.”

Leorio takes his gloves off and throws them and the rest of the garbage out, clearing the small side table quickly. Kurapika held the gauze on his arm, putting their face into the bear. 

Leorio found that cute, smiling a little as he took a moment to write things on the chart. Then he’s standing up and moving to the next patient in his rotation. 

As he is rounding the corner after his shift, he sees his kids sitting in the waiting room, Alluka chatting with Kalluto about something animatedly. Gon is leaning against Killua as he plays something handheld with the other. Kalluto is the one to notice him approaching, pointing behind Alluka. She giddily runs over, hugging him excitedly. 

“Hey guys!” Leorio exclaims, ruffling Alluka’s hair. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Ms. Mito wanted us to meet you so you didn’t stay too long.” Kalluto says.

Leorio nods, not able to say anything to that. He is sure he would if he wasn’t so tired. 

“I have to use the bathroom.” Killua says suddenly. “I’ll be right back.”

They all stood waiting for him to come back and soon, after Alluka’s request for a movie night, they debate on what to watch. Leorio turns around to see if Killua is done already and falters, seeing Killua glaring at something down the hall he is passing. Leorio walks over and sees Kurapika looking back coldly at the two kids, a book open in their lap. 

“Do you know them?” Leorio asks.

“I’ll tell you later,” Killua says. 

Leorio waves at Kurapika before they both walk back to the group. He trusts he would be told later on. Killua probably didn’t want to scare Alluka, who is infinitely more skittish than her other siblings.

It takes some convincing but they finally figured out a movie to watch and what to have for dinner. Killua and Gon have a competition to see how much the other could carry so it was an easy walk for the other three. 

It is something he truly missed, the movie nights. Mito and Gon came over as well and it was something he wishes he could do every night. Killua is dead set on watching a horror movie so fell asleep within the first thirty minutes as they watched a more friendly movie for Alluka and one Mito approved of for Gon. 

They all fall asleep together and it is interrupted when Leorio’s phone goes off. Everybody lets out an audible groan at the sound and Leorio has to shush them before he answers.

“Hello?” He asks, still groggy from how he had fallen asleep himself.

“Hey, Leorio,” Nancy says. “I’m sorry. You’re supposed to be off so if you don’t want to it’s fine but-”

“When do you need me in?” Leorio interrupts.

“7-12 this morning. So in about five hours. Reinhardt....Family thing or something.”

“It’s always something with his family. Alright, I’ll be in. Tell Reinhardt he’s working for me Monday no matter what. Have a good night”

“For sure. Bye”

Leorio hangs up and Mito scoffs. He looks over to see her sitting up with her arms crossed.

“If you have such an important family life, why be in such a hectic line of work. Why not take a leave of absence. You have a family too, he's not more important than anybody else.” She says angrily.

Leorio shrugs, sitting up. “It’s fine. It’s 3AM so come on kids. Killua, can you get the green comforter from the closet for the guest bedroom?”

Killua nods, moving down the hall. Alluka and Kalluto leave upstairs to their own rooms. Leorio cleans up the living room, putting the bowls away in the sink for later. Mito is helping make the bed with Killua and Gon is chatting as Killua smoothes it out. Gon is carrying another blanket, probably so he can sleep in Killua’s room.

Him and Gon leave for the basement where Killua’s room is. Leorio makes sure Mito has everything she needs before he leaves for bed, too. He sets his alarm and quickly changes into pyjamas, falling into bed. 


	3. Chapter 3

He seems to have blinked before his alarm is going off at 6. He groans and sits up. He isn’t sure if he likes being up this early because he is always barely able to stand from exhaustion at this time. He works a lot of late nights and so would be awake within a few hours to help the kids get ready for school. Mito would sleep over in his house a lot with the kids until he got home for his own peace of mind. 

He is glad it is a quick shift because he is so tired and the kids wouldn’t mind if he took a nap when he got home. He half expects them to still be up since Alluka sometimes had a habit of being up early playing in her room.

The nurses all wave at him, some looking annoyed as he walks in. He didn’t bother thinking about that too much as he went to his locker and got ready to clock in. 

He soon found out why they were annoyed with him though.

“That patient, the gunshot victim? He won’t let anybody else take his blood. We’ve tried giving him the bear, we tried talking, we tried everything. He won’t let us near him.” Heather erupted when he went to the nurse’s station. 

“Damn, I thought they wanted to leave. Alright, I’ll get their blood. I would’ve thought they were already discharged, honestly.” Leorio scratches the back of his neck and gives a nervous laugh as Heather drops the files grumpily in front of him.

“We can’t! We need to check for infection and his last blood work but he won’t let us. Just kept repeating ‘only the doctor can.’”

“Are they delirious?”

“Who knows!”

“Well, I’ll make sure everything’s fine then. Nobody came to visit him?”

“Only one person but dude was asleep. I caught him fiddling with the IV so I had to ask him to leave. Oh, that’s a lie. A couple days ago when he first came in somebody sat with him he also did something with the IV. It was weird, I asked him to leave too.”

Leorio furrows his brows. He hurries off to Kurapika’s room. The door is ajar from the last nurse in not closing it all the way. Kurapika is staring at the ceiling in bed. They seem to be in a daze and their face is flushed and there is a sheen of sweat. 

“Hey, Kurapika,” Leorio greets. He quickly rummages for a thermometer and gets Kurapika’s attention before he inserts it. “Hold this under your tongue. You look like you might have a fever. That’s a sign of infection so I need to make sure it isn’t that.”

Kurapika doesn't even nod, just looks over glassy eyed. Leorio didn’t like that look and soon has Kurapika also sitting up slightly so he could look at their dressing for signs of infection.

The wound is red around the edges and looks like it is starting to get infected. He sighs, taking the thermometre out. It was 39C.

“Kurapika,” Leorio says. It takes a few seconds for it to register but soon they look up at Leorio. “You have a fever but do you have any pain?”

“Stomach...Head. Poisoned...I’m poisoned.” They say. It takes a few seconds as they were so out of it they couldn’t think of what to say.

“Well, we’ll see if you’re actually poisoned. I doubt it. I have to take blood but I’m guessing it’s an infection from how your wound looks.”

“I’m...I run a..mafia…mafia family...they know I’m weak...I’m weak now. Check...Thallium.”

Leorio sighs but nods. “Alright. I’ll make sure they keep an eye out for it in your blood. Have you only recently started developing these symptoms? Do you have any hair loss, other pain, brain fog, or hallucinations? Anything you can think of?”

Kurapika nods, licking their lips. “Been...It’s been weeks. Got worse...Before I came here.”

Leorio furrows his eyebrows, quickly sanitizing his hands and pulling everything out to take their blood. He doesn’t waste any time as he gets a nurse to get the blood samples to the lab and wait for the results for him, he gets to work cleaning the wound again, and has pain killers to put Kurapika to sleep for comfort in the meantime.

“Have you changed the IV recently? After that guy messed with it?” Leorio asked Heather after he had left back to the nurse’s station.

“No, it’s only halfway done.”

“Can you get another one for me? They say they’re poisoned and I want to take precautions if the tests come back positive.”

Heather nods and rushes out, coming back in record time. Heather got a urine sample with a catheter and both the blood and urine came back positive for thallium. It is a shock to a lot of the staff as they had never really dealt with something like this before. This isn’t a big city so why would they have such an obscure poisoning method to somebody else?

Leorio is sure that Kurapika was not going to be happy once they were coherent with how much time they had to stay extra in the hospital.

But soon the end of his shift came and he is clocking out. He makes sure to tell the person coming in after him to keep an eye on Kurapika and nobody is allowed to visit him anymore without explicit permission from Kurapika, themself. 

It feels surreal that he is dealing with thallium poisoning. They only learned about that as a fun thing in his class in undergrad. Sure it’s important to know but it is so rare, not many people taught in depth about it. He ended up doing a thesis paper on poison and how different ones can affect the body though, so the symptoms feel too coincidental to be just a fever.

Of course, they say they were a mafia boss...he isn’t sure if that is just them being delirious or they are trying to prove they are in fact a target. It would make a lot of sense in the long run considering they came in with a gunshot and now they were poisoned. Somebody really did not want them alive.

He walked in the door and saw Mito reading a book in the living room first. Alluka is at her feet with Kalluto playing dolls. He could hear Killua and Gon playing games in the basement. All three in the living room looked up. Alluka runs over to Leorio and barrels into a hug.

“Hi, Leorio! How was work, did you see anything funny?” Alluka asks.

Leorio picks her up, holding her on his hip. “I didn’t see anything fun this time. But I’m sure I will next time. Did you guys eat breakfast?”

“Yes,” Kalluto answers. “Killua tried making waffles. Mito had to help him because he didn’t know you used a press and put them in the pan.”

“So he made pancakes?” Leorio says in confusion.

“Kind of. They were crispier than normal pancakes should be, I feel.” Mito says. “They got all the bed clothes off and ready to go to be washed, too. Alluka and Kalluto helped them do that.”

“Weren’t you guys helpful today. Do you guys want lunch?” Leorio says, setting Alluka down.

Both Kalluto and Alluka nod, Alluka running forward to the basement door. She carefully walks down the stairs, peeking through the bars at the two on the floor.

“Do you guys want lunch?” she yells. 

“Yeah, me and Gon were getting hungry. What is it?”

“I dunno. Leorio hasn’t told us.”

“He’s home?”

“Yeah! Kalluto told him how you couldn’t make waffles.”

Killua grew silent and Leorio snorts, knowing he was most likely grumbling to himself. 

Leorio steps into the kitchen and makes lunch for everybody and soon they are all at the table, chattering with Leorio about this and that. It is over fast with Gon and Killua trying to dart out of the room as fast as possible. Leorio didn’t let them though and quickly grabs their shirt collars.

“Not so fast, kids. You have to do your project. Have you started on it?” Leorio asks sternly.

“We know what our idea is, isn’t that enough?” Killua whines.

“Not a chance. Get your stuff up here on the table. It’s Kalluto’s turn to do dishes, right?”

Kalluto nods, standing and gathering everything from the table. Alluka gleefully got up and starts helping, carrying all the glasses for them.

Killua and Gon sulk off downstairs, reappearing with their bookbags. They lay everything out on the table they need and get to work. Mito left soon after, going to do some chores she hadn’t gotten a chance to do earlier. Leorio sits up with the two at the table and answers all the questions they have to get them started before soon they are able to start gathering everything they need to make their presentation.

Leorio is rubbing at his eyes heavily the entire time and soon Alluka is next to him at the table, crossing her arms grumpily.

“What is it, Princess?” Leorio asks tiredly.

“You can’t play with me when you’re sleepy!” She says, stomping her foot. “It’s your nap time.”

“No, no I can still play with you.” Leorio tries to insist but Killua snorts. 

“Good luck getting her to change her mind. It’s nap time, old man.”

“I’m only 30.” 

“Whatever. Go take your afternoon nap. You finally have time for one. We can look after ourselves.”

“Fine, but make sure you put the bed clothes on while I’m asleep. Do you know how to do that?”

Killua nods. Alluka pulls him up and marches Leorio up the stairs, picking out pyjamas for him and even tucking him in. She scrambles up onto the bed, plopping next to him with Nanika. 

“You don’t have to have a nap with me, kiddo.” Leorio says.

“I know. But it gets lonely if you sleep on your own sometimes.”

“Well, thank you, Princess. I’ll play dolls with you later. I have to talk with Killua before that though.”

“Is he in trouble?”

“No, no. I just have a question he might be able to answer. It’s nothing bad.”

“That’s good. Whenever Dad would say that, he always hurt Killua. He wasn’t nice like you.”

Leorio frowns, sitting up a little. “Do you get scared I’ll do the same to you guys?”

“We all were at first. Not anymore. We all agree you’re a good dad. I like it here a lot more because I’m not stuck in my room all day. I can play with Killua a lot too!”

Leorio sighs and pulls Alluka into a hug. She wiggles excitedly into it. He gives her forehead a quick kiss.

“You have to give Nanika one too!” Alluka says, pulling her doll from between them. 

Leorio laughs and gave Nanika a kiss as well before he finally settles back down for their nap.

He is shaken awake by Kalluto, Alluka already gone from the bed. Leorio sits up, rubbing at his face tiredly. 

“Hey, kiddo,” he says. “How long was I asleep?”

“A few hours. It’s six, now. We all decided to let you sleep.”

“I’m sorry, you guys could have woken me up. I didn’t want to leave you all on your own all day.”

“It’s okay, Ms. Mito is here too. She said she was going to help with dinner for you. Alluka also made sure we were all quiet today so we didn’t have much choice.”

Leorio laughs and slides out of bed, following Kalluto as they leave the room towards the kitchen. Everybody else is in there with Gon and Killua chopping vegetables. Alluka is excitedly in front of a pot stirring noodles with Mito overlooking everything carefully. 

“Alright, well what can I help with?” Leorio asks.

He is met with resounding silence as Kalluto pulls dishes from the cabinet and starts setting the table. Mito pointedly directs him to the table.

“You’ve worked hard enough all week, Leorio. Just sit down for a while.” Gon says over his shoulder.

“You said you had to ask Killua something,” Alluka pipes up.

Leorio gives a small, ‘oh!’ and motions for Killua to follow him. Killua does, albeit sulkily, and they both step onto the porch. Leorio closes the door behind him and lets Killua sit on the porch railing before he starts.

Killua beats him to it though, saying, “If you’re going to lecture me, make it quick.”

“Oh, nothing like that,” Leorio says, taken off guard. “I just was going to ask about what happened at the hospital with you staring that guy down.”

“They’re a mob boss. We were a frequent client for them. Took over when there was an attack on the old house and the old boss appointed them the security leader. It wasn’t long before they were named actual leader by the boss getting killed as they were the right hand man so he stepped into power.”

“They’re name’s Kurapika, right?”

“Yeah...Do you know them?”

“They’re my patient. They tested positive for thallium poisoning this morning. I needed to make sure. They had a fever so when they told me they were a mafia boss, I wasn’t sure if it was just the fever.”

Killua sighs dramatically, putting his head down. “Since they know me, I might have to go and explain we aren’t assigned on a hit. We aren’t even a part of the family business anymore.”

“That’s going to be hard as nobody without explicit permission from Kurapika can visit them now. Need to narrow down the chance of more things happening to them.”

“You can still see them.”

“Yeah but they could improve over the time I’m off enough to get released. They’re probably going to take blood when they’re asleep since when they’re awake only I can do it.”

Killua snorts. “You should go in and visit them saying you’re there to help get blood or something.”

“Maybe...Thanks for answering my questions. If I have anymore I’ll ask you. And if you need to talk to me about anything, I’ll be here to listen if needed. Alright?”

Killua nods, looking away to hide his face. They turn to go back inside when the door open and Gon peeking out, smiling at the two.

“Aunt Mito said that you should hurry up because dinner’s ready.” Gon says.

“I bet I could eat more than you,” Killua says, poking Gon in the sides. 

He laughs, hurrying inside with Killua following. Leorio follows too and sits beside Alluka at the table at her excited pestering. 

The next day is just as quiet but this time Killua is over at Gon’s house with Kalluto wanting to watch things with Leorio. He isn’t used to watching cartoons anymore and is more than happy to sit with them. Alluka is playing on her own and they’d occasionally hear her get loud and excited about her dolls.

Monday is when a problem came up. He is called at one am by the hospital and he sighs, answering it with a tired, “Hello?”

“Hey, Leorio…” Nancy says softly. “Can you come in and help us out? Kurapika won’t let us take blood anymore since he’s less delirious and sleeping less. Nobody else has managed it.”

Leorio sighs again, sitting up. Kalluto shifts, making him do a double take as usually they didn’t share his bed without Alluka. 

“Yeah, I can come in. Is it just to take their blood then?”

“Yes, we just need his blood.”

“Alright, yeah that’s fine. I’ll be there in about ten minutes.”

“Thank you so much, I owe you one, Leorio.” Nancy says before hanging up.

Leorio gets up carefully, trying not to wake Kalluto up, They still move though, sitting up as well.

“Did work just call?” They ask.

“Yeah, I’ll be back within an hour though. If I’m not call me because I might be wrapped up in work.”

Kalluto regards him before nodding, laying back down. Leorio doesn’t bother changing much and just puts on some dress pants instead of pyjamas and a hoodie on. He slips outside just as quietly with his shoes in his hands so he wouldn’t be heard walking around inside.

He walks into the hospital and Nancy waves at him, apologetic. He waves back as he walks past her, going right to Kurapika’s room. He knocks before entering, going in and seeing Kurapika sitting up, hostilely staring at the door.

“They really mean it when they say if looks could kill, huh?” Leorio says, going over to the sink to wash his hands. “You probably know why I’m here.”

“They need blood taken. I heard them.”

“Yeah, let’s make this one quick. Ah, I guess this works out perfect. I need to talk to you anyways, before you’re discharged.”

“About?” Kurapika says coldly.

“You saw one of my kids a couple days ago. I know you recognized him.” Leorio sits down, drying his hands before putting gloves on. He uses it as an excuse not to look at Kurapika. “They’re Zoldycks, as you guessed. But they aren’t here on a job. They aren’t even in the family anymore. I have full custody of those three legally and have for two years. I have no plans to ever let their parents see them again if I can ever help it.”

Kurapika nods, relaxing their shoulders. “I see. Thank you for notifying me. It’s true I know them as I have been the one to contract them before and as well their family.”

“Guess it’s just bad luck they ended up in the town where a mafia boss also lives.”

Kurapika nods again. They’re silent as Leorio preps everything and doesn’t resist when Leorio takes their arm, just grabbing the bear from the bedside table. 

“Have you called the police about my poisoning?” They ask into the silence.

“Yes, the nurses reported it so if you want to press charges you can.”

“I would rather not have to involve law enforcement as this is going to become very illegal very soon.”

Leorio laughs, shaking his head. “If we didn’t report it we would lose our medical licenses. They’ll only have a report to ask you about and-little poke-you can just refuse to answer anything after you say you don’t want to press charges. Not ideal, obviously, since cops in small towns especially are hard to deal with. But it’s something we have to do.”

“If anything, I could review the security footage and then identify the people that came into my room. It would not be long until I found them, most likely.”

“You’d need help getting the footage as security gets stingy about who sees it.”

“Could you not get the files?”

“The files are a specific type only the security and police are able to access.”

Kurapika makes a sound of annoyance and Leorio shrugs.

“I could get a copy but if it’s with the file itself it could be tricky.”

Leorio throws out all the garbage, taking the blood pressure cuff out. He is silent for a moment as he works and Kurapika doesn’t have anything else to say. 

“If you wanted, after you were released, I could meet somewhere and give you the footage to review or show it to you at my house. But I doubt you’d be able to walk very far so I might have to see you or something.”

Kurapika gives a small hum. Leorio finishes Kurapika’s vitals before putting everything away and standing up, stretching his back.

“I’ll be back Tuesday, if you’re still here.”

“I’ll let you know what I decide is the best course of action.”

Leorio waves as he leaves, closing the door softly as always. He gives the vials of blood to Nancy. She thanks him endlessly, even yelling one more out as he leaves. He doesn’t waste any time there though as he walks away, rubbing his face.

He doesn’t get very far into his walk when he has somebody tapping his shoulder. He looks behind him and suddenly he is stumbling back, holding his nose as they reel their arm back, going for another punch. He barely dodges, still dazed. They knee him in the gut and he can’t stand from the wave of pain and nausea. The person kicks at him. They aim mainly for his face. It’s endless. He doesn’t even give time to breathe before another one comes. 

Finally though he is spit at and the person runs off. Leorio felt for his glasses, tucking them safely in his pocket before he gently started picking himself up, feeling his nose throb. He was in the fetal position and his arms hurt and his shins are bruised and his nose is definitely broken.

He dabs at his nose, wincing at the sting and tries to slowly get up but feels a wave of nausea and pain overtake him. He couldn’t separate what hurt and what didn’t until it subsided. He feels his lungs constrict and burn. He has something with his ribs no doubt. 

It is hard to even stay upright and he eventually collapses onto his knees against the building behind him. It’s only by luck that he is helped because Kalluto calls him.

“It’s been over an hour,” They say curtly.

“I know, I’ll be-”

“You’re hurt,” They interrupt, letting their voice gain a frantic tone. “Something with your nose, your voice isn’t this nasally. Where are you? I'll come get you. Who was it, did you-”

“Kalluto, please. I need you to get your brother. He’s the tallest of you guys that can help me up. You can help by getting my first aid kit ready but it’s too dangerous for you, you’re too young right now.”

“Dad would have let me.” They grumble.

“I know,I know he would. But he was very irresponsible and mean to you guys. It’s why you’re with me now.”

Kalluto doesn’t say anything else. He hears some shuffling on the other end of the line and he sighs in relief, knowing they were going to get Killua up. 

“What do you want? I just got to sleep.” Killua grumbles, yawning at the end.

“I need you to do me a favour and come meet me somewhere. I ugh...I got hurt from somebody else and I can’t stand up very well. I don’t want to risk collapsing somewhere in the middle of the night.”

“Fine, I’ll come get you. You owe me candy, though.”

Killua gets up, talking a little to Kalluto on the other end before he leaves. He only asks where Leorio is after he‘s out of the house, quickly jogging down the road.

“I’m about a block away from the school. In front of that concrete wall corner.” Leorio says. 

“Alright, give me a couple minutes.” Killua says, quickly hanging up.

Leorio gently tips his head up from between his knees, trying again to dab at his nose again. It stings like crazy so he can’t even put pressure on it like he needs to to staunch the bleeding. He doesn’t have to wait long until he hears Killua running up, quickly bending down to check on Leorio.

“Damn, you really are getting old if some guy got you this badly.” Killua says jokingly. 

“Should brush up on my self defense skills, honestly. Did not expect that at all.” Leorio lets Killua take his arm and pull him up.

Killua rummages in his pocket, pulling out a package of tissues and offering them to Leorio. He took them graciously. Killua supports him all the way home, keeping a steady hand on Leorio’s arm so he didn’t wobble too much.

They get home to Kalluto and Alluka both sitting on the porch, Alluka sniffling into Nanika. Leorio tries to smile but it hurt with how his nose is. They push him inside and into the bathroom where Kalluto has the first aid kit open and ready. 

It is easy to clean everything up and assess what happened when he’s in light. What isn’t easy is trying to calm Alluka down with blood all over his face. 

“Killua, can you go sit with Alluka in the living room? She’s getting too upset.” Leorio mutters. Killua nods, lifting Alluka up easily into his arms. 

“Let’s go, you’re getting too worked up. I’ll make you some hot chocolate.” Leorio can hear him saying to her as they leave. 

Kalluto is more calm even if they were younger than Alluka. They help clean his face and reset his nose and even make sure the bruising on his chest didn’t go to his spine or anything major. It is a lot easier to work with but he still wishes somebody other than his kids were here. Even though Killua and Kalluto were beyond desensitized to violence, he still doesn’t want to expose them to it.

The rest of the day he spends in bed. He isn’t allowed to even try to get up. After he’s patched up, he is put to bed after Alluka is sure he’s alright. He tries to get some water on his own but Killua yells, swatting his hands away. Kalluto comes out of nowhere and ushers him back up the stairs, Killua is following with water and some pain killers. 

He only wakes up after the kids have gotten home from school so it is very easy for them to make sure he didn’t move. 

It’s only when he had to go into work did he realize he had a problem.

He is too sore to move like he needs to in his shifts, especially to lift patients onto beds and other physical tasks he sometimes has to do in the ER. He tries to play it off but Killua narrows his eyes, waiting until Kalluto and Alluka are away from them before he says anything.

“You’re in pain, call out.” he says simply.

“I can’t do that. I’m one of the only people able to cover this shift today.”

“I don’t care, it’s not your problem.”

Leorio sighs. “I’ll make a deal with you. If it’s too hard for me to move, I’ll call somebody in. The nurses know when I’m sick or in pain so it won’t be hard for them to realize something is wrong. Especially since my nose is broken, they’ll want to know what happened immediately.”

Killua doesn’t look convinced but doesn't press it. He walks away to get his school bag ready and that is that. 

Like he expects, the first nurse that sees him swarm him. She asks question after question about what happened, if he got it checked, if there is anything she could do. On and on. He laughs it off, shrugging.

“I got in an accident. I wasn’t looking where I was going. It’s not a big deal, nothing internal, just my nose that’s broken.” Leorio is saying. 

“Why didn’t you come back to the hospital?” She asks, quickly looking over his nose. 

“Oh, I knew it was no big deal. We get busy enough with small cuts and stuff. I just went home and made sure nothing major was wrong. Just some bruising.”

“Fine, but the minute I see something is wrong, you’re going home.” Heather says. She goes back to her desk, looking up every now and then as Leorio looks over the files of patients that have come in recently and his current ones.

“Kurapika’s still here?” he asks.

“We didn’t want to risk releasing them too early with the thallium poisoning and all. We need another thing for blood work and if it looks good both times today, they’ll be fine, though.” Heather says, not looking up from the computer.

Leorio nods and starts to leave for their room before he stops, walking back. 

“I have a weird question, Heather,” he says. When she looks up, he continues. “Would I be able to get a copy of the security tape from the times those men went into Kurapika’s room?”

“Sure, you are the head doctor currently. You’d have to go to security but you shouldn’t have a problem getting a copy.”

Leorio hums a little, thanking Heather before he leaves for Kurapika’s room. He walks in to find them sitting up alert. They look over, blinking once before their eyes widen.

“Your nose is broken,” they say.

“Is it that obvious? Yeah, some guy came out of nowhere. It’s nothing major. I can help you get your security tape from the guards. I’ll do that if I manage to have a lunch today.”

Kurapika looks over hesitantly. “Do not get in trouble on my behalf.”

Leorio waves them off and rolls his eyes. “They’re just going to reprimand me. I’m not breaking the law to get security footage.”

Leorio leaves soon after that, finishing his rounds. He quickly jumps into helping patients coming into the ER and soon it is halfway through his shift. He has to take his lunch soon so he quickly clocks out, walking to the security desk first.

He approaches the desk and the security guard, Dominique, greets him. He smiles and leans against the counters.

“Would I be able to get a copy of a couple security tapes? I need to review the thallium poisoning instance but I don’t have time on shift.”

“Of course,” Dominique says. He quickly pulls them up, saying as he did it, “I remember around the time these instances happened. I was the one to escort both those guys out as I’ve been doing the week on week off kind of shifts. Weird for this kinda small town, you know?”

“You’re telling me, man.” 

“Do you want these to your email?”

“That would be great. Send it to my personal email.”

Leorio waves goodbye, after confirming the email was sent. 

He finishes his lunch and dives back into his work. It’s painful and strenuous and there are times all he could do was sit in the empty break room for a few minutes because he felt his chest burn too much. The nurses noticed but they were all too busy to say anything. They needed a doctor and if he was willing to stay then he is staying.

Nothing happens and he’s able to clock out relatively on time for once. He’s relieved over that much as he is excited to be home at nine to see the kids to bed.

He does stop into Kurapika’s room before he leaves though. Leorio stops short of the door when he hears people talking in there, not expecting it. Kurapika seems agitated with what they are saying and Leorio furrows his eyebrows. He knocks sharply and they cut off abruptly. 

The door opens to a guy a head shorter than Leorio trying to stare him down. He gives an easy going smile to the guy, waving to Kurapika over the guy’s shoulder. 

“Hey, can I come in for a second. Just need to let you know but don’t want to shout it in the hall.” 

Kurapika nods and Leorio sidesteps the guy who is trying to block him out. He steps in far enough that he can talk quietly and Kurapika gives a warning look to the man.

“I have the copies of the security tape and if you have an email I can send them to you.”

Kurapika nods. “Thank you. Do you have a pad I can write it on?”

Leorio quickly pulls one out of his suit jacket and Kurapika scribbles it down with the pen provided. Leorio doesn’t stick around long, taking the pad and pen back and turning to leave. He gives a curt look to the other man in the room. The man elbows him in the chest and Leorio can't help but double over, gripping the door frame briefly.

He sucks in a breath and forces himself to keep moving. He can’t make a scene here of all places. 


	4. Chapter 4

The next few days go by in a flash. Leorio is busy everyday at work. The kids tried to nag him to stay home but he knew how little staff there is and can’t bring himself to. Kurapika is released after improving immensely from the poisoning but has to come back in a month for a check up. The amount of pills they have to take were something you had to keep an eye on just in case. 

It is when he had somebody following him home a week after Kurapika’s release that he felt like something was wrong.

Leorio notices when he stops, waiting for the cross light to change. Somebody at the last two is also coming up the sidewalk. He doesn’t think about it at first but with the few errands he has to do, whenever he gets out of a store and sees the familiar shadow, he gets nervous. 

He starts taking a few odd turns that aren’t on his route and goes to the crowded main street to try and lose him. It doesn’t work, so he finally ducks into the last store he has to pick a couple things in.

He manages to lose him in the store and sneaks out an employee door. He has a friend that is on shift and he asks for a favour as he doesn’t want to lead the person to his house and endanger the kids. 

It works but not for long. The next week he notices somebody following him again. He had hoped that it was a one off thing where he was going to be maybe pick pocketed but apparently not. 

Just as he is about to try and shake the person, he hears somebody running up behind him on the empty street. He turns and barely got his arm up in time to block the punch aiming for his face. He backs up to put distance between them.

They throw a kick Leorio dodges. They don’t give up though, punching at his broken nose. Leorio can only evade and block the best he can in his exhausted state. He would have been fine, he feels, if a second person wasn't suddenly there. 

The second person appears out of nowhere. They hit him in the back with something, knocking the wind out of him. His chest screams in pain as the person strikes where he has cracked ribs. Leorio can’t help but stumble from the hit, dropping to his knees. He doesn’t even have a chance to catch his breath before he feels his head being held in place and there was a heavy kick to his abdomen. He coughs, feeling bile rise but can't do anything. 

He tries to struggle, trying to reach around to shake the person behind off. But his hands are caught quickly and he’s held down, a knee pressing on his already aching torso. 

They’re saying something to each other. Leorio’s head pounds. He can’t think. Nothing is coming through but the rushing in his ears. He tries to steady his breath in the small reprieve but it's small. It’s with a jolt that he realized what was happening.

This was one of the people that poisoned Kurapika. 

He must have been targeted because he was the main doctor treating them. This was the third time something weird happened and it all centred around the time Kurapika got better and released. 

He Is taken out of his thoughts by two things, though. The second person brought their weapon of choice, a crowbar, onto his hand with the second taking a knife and plunging it into his leg. 

They don’t stick around after that, running off where they came. Leorio isn’t sure if it was the noise they made, or the yell Leorio can’t help releasing that makes them finally scatter. He can only lay crumpled in the sidewalk, trying to control his breathing through the intense pain covering him. 

It’s midnight on a Tuesday. There is nobody around as he’s on a back street that is mainly abandoned businesses and housing. He’s about ten minutes of walking from home but he doesn’t want to have to walk that far as that was dangerous. What if they were going to follow him home? They also might have hit something vital in his leg and walking would make him bleed out faster.

He carefully sits up, panting harshly as his head spins. He cradles his hand to his chest gently. All Leorio can think forlornly was, ‘This person has quite the arm on them.’

He takes his tie off and carefully tourniquets his leg. He fumbles for his phone and dials Mito’s phone. The kids are hopefully asleep because he doesn’t want to worry them so much with this. Just two weeks ago he came home with a broken nose and cracked ribs. They might go back to their repressed emotions and nervous chatter around him if he isn’t careful. They might think he’s taking on the jobs like their biological family. If he reminds them of their biological parents in any way…

He sighs, blinking away his jumble of thoughts. He can’t worry right now about that. He needs somebody to come help him back to the hospital so he doesn’t bleed too much. If the tourniquet stays on too long he might even lose his leg or damage it severely. He isn’t sure the severity and needs and that’s what he has to focus on. Mito was the only one he could think to call.

She picks up after three rings, answering with a tired, “Hello? Are you alright, Leorio? It’s late on a school night, you never call-”

“I know,” Leorio says. He’s panting from a mix of pain and exertion trying to struggle to breathe. “I need some help. Don’t let the...Don’t let the kids know something is wrong but can you put Killua and Gon in charge if they’re still up?”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“I...well...Now do not tell the kids this but two guys jumped me on my way home again. I don’t want to worry them because...one of them...stabbed me.”

“Excuse me?” Mito erupts. Leorio quickly shushes her but she’s rummaging on the other end, saying, “Do you need an ambulance? What about first aid-should I bring a kit? Do you need anything like a blanket or-?”

She cuts off as she talks to somebody on the other end. They’re saying something with concern but he can’t make it out. He’s so exhausted he can barely keep his eyes open. 

“Leorio!” Mito calls harshly. She has been calling a few times, sounding more worried as she called. Killua is beside her finishing his homework and is staring hard at the phone. 

“Mm, I’m here don’t worry.”

“Where are you? How far are you home?”

“I’m on Hawthorn. Just bring me home. It’ll be fine-”

“You’re on Hawthorn? That’s-okay, I’ll be right there. Do not move until I’m there or so help me. If you try to drag me the opposite way from the hospital, I’m gonna kill you myself”

Leorio gives a sound of agreement, still too tired to say much more. Mito stays on the phone, talking about how reckless he is. He lets her talk, using it as an anchor to stay awake. He can’t begin to even say how appreciative he is of how much Mito helped him in life. 

She finds him with ease and helps him stand up, supporting him all the way back to the hospital. The nurse on duty is a new trainee so she isn’t as fast to react as some of the others. He doesn’t blame her as he is suddenly pushed onto a gurney and Heather is near him and so is somebody else he can’t focus on. 

They put oxygen on him and wheel him into a curtained off area to start working on him. 

It wasn’t that severe but it was enough for him to need to stay for observation. He has more fractured ribs from the crowbar to his back, stitching in his leg for the stab, a concussion, and his right hand is broken. Mito is told about all of this while he was being worked on away from her. 

He’s woken up by a nurse later. He isn’t sure how much later but he’s in a private room now. She’s saying something to him but his head pounds and ears buzzed still. He can’t focus. He must have fallen asleep again though because soon he’s being woken up again by the same nurse. He guesses he has a concussion, realizing they can’t let him sleep for more than a few hours at a time. 

The second time he’s woken up on his own. He lifts his head gently, screwing his eyes up against the lamp that gave gentle lighting to the rest of the room. He blinks his eyes back open and finally realizes that all four kids are there too.

Mito is asleep with Kalluto and Gon on either side of her. Killua and Alluka are curled up together on the floor in front of the small love seat the other three are on. He tries to move his right hand to rub at his eyes but the smallest movement hurts more than he expects. He felt so heavy that even moving his head is an effort.

Killua opens his eyes at the small groan he let out. He looks like he had been crying. Leorio tries to say something but his mouth felt like it was full of cotton and he could only lift his lips gently before he felt himself fall asleep again.

The next time he wakes up, there is loud, angry chatter in the room. He isn’t sure what was being said exactly but it doesn’t sound good. The voices hurt his head so he gently flops it to the side where there‘s a nurse in the middle of talking. Killua angrily talks back to the nurse and Gon is beside him, looking indignant about what is being said. 

It takes a moment but there is a lull in the argument and Leorio hears the nurse say, “We can ask him then,” 

Killua gave an angry huff.

“Ask what,” he finally manages to say. His mouth is so dry it barely comes out more than a croak. His small voice gives the group a shock and soon Alluka runs up and is offering him a small cup of water. 

“They’re saying you only have enough for one week off before you have to go back to work. Your hand’s broken and you can’t!” Killua says angrily, stabbing a finger at the nurse.

“I said that we might need him to still come in because we don’t have anybody after a week since-”

“He isn’t working!” Gon speaks up. Mito isn’t in the room but the four kids are all steely eyed and give him a pause as he listens to the conversation. 

“You’ll have to close the ER.” Leorio says. “I can’t work for at least six weeks.”

“More than that.” Killua says, his voice becoming less hostile. “Your hand wasn’t just broken, it shattered in a lot of places. You can feel how hard it is to move it.”

Leorio blinks to keep awake and manages to bury his face into his left hand. His head won’t stop pounding and he sucks in a shaky breath as he tries to steady it. “Killua’s right. I can’t work. It’s fine, you can find a doctor to fill in for me.”

The nurse doesn’t seem to like that answer and tries to say more but Killua glares at her, his shoulders shaking. Alluka gently takes his hand and it seems to calm him down slightly. The nurse leaves after a moment, looking like she has known this is the answer regardless of what she said. Kalluto follows her so they can close the door quietly. Alluka carefully places Nanika beside Leorio’s head.

“She’ll watch over you. Mito says we have to go to school tomorrow.” Alluka says.

“How long was I asleep?”

“It’s about nine pm on wednesday.” Killua says. “They induced a coma after a day since you lost so much blood just in case. I think they wanted to avoid giving you any pain, too.” 

“I’ll be released tomorrow, I’m guessing.”

“Tonight, actually. They were waiting for you to wake up.” 

Leorio nods. He pauses before he says, “That was a newer nurse. I’m not sure her name but she might have been sent in to ask by the manager on shift tonight. Don’t hate her too much.”

Killua snorts but doesn’t say anything else because Mito walks in then. They are all eager to leave and soon, after it’s confirmed that he is fine to go.

He gets home safely with a cab. Everybody is very helpful and takes turns supporting Leorio in and out of the cab as well as making sure he’s comfortable. They force him into their guest bedroom so he didn’t have to climb the stairs. The kids all hover after he’s settled and keep asking that he has enough water, he has snacks, he doesn't need anything for pain, etc. 

They only leave after Leorio insists that they had to get ready for bed. Alluka is scared and gently hands Leorio Nanika again. 

“If she’s here, nothing will happen.” She says, sniffling a little. 

Leorio smiles and ruffles her hair, sending her off to get ready for bed. 

Only when he is alone does he remember he needs to email Kurapika. He needs to warn them what happened to him in case somebody decides to target them. Them telling him to stay out of it was almost an indicator that this happened because he was involved with Kurapika. 

He quickly sends the email off. He locks his phone and settles down in the bed, starting to doze on and off. In no time it’s morning and the kids are up for school. Leorio starts to get up and help them but they won’t have it. They only let him move to the living room once they are sure it’s alright. 

The next few days go by in a blur of him sleeping on and off all day. Mito is in and out helping clean a little as well as sitting with Leorio and chatting with him. The kids almost never left his sight when they were home until bedtime. It is nice, even if the circumstances weren’t.

After a few days, he gets a response from Kurapika. It is short and to the point. ‘Where do you live? I will need to see you as I have to talk to you about some things.’

He’s confused as to why they need where he lives but he isn’t particularly against it. He couldn’t believe Kurapika is malicious in any way towards him and his family. 

Within two hours there’s a knock on his door. He’s alone as Mito is at her house so he carefully gets up and hobbles to the front door with the crutch he was given. Kurapika seems frazzled, more so than Leorio had seen him even when sick. 

“I’m sorry. You’re hurt because of me,” Kurapika says. 

Leorio makes a face. “Hello to you too. Come on in.”

Kurapika rushes in, closing the curtain on the door window quickly. “I’m being serious. You are in danger. There’s somebody out to get you. I have to get you out of-”

“Hang...hang on a minute,” Leorio says. He holds onto the doorknob, gripping it until his hand is white. “I need to get the kids before anything. They’re in the most danger, not me.”

Kurapika sighs. They just nod slightly and limp over to the couch to sit down angrily. Leorio lets them go and starts calling the two schools to excuse his kids. After that, he calls Mito and briefly explains to pull Gon out of school.

“Why would I do that? He’s struggling enough without missing so much time.” Mito says.

“Can you trust me and pull him out? I can’t explain it over the phone. Just know this is about the kids’ safety.”

Mito agrees reluctantly, unnerved from Leorio’s tone. 

Leorio is carefully going up the stairs to get Alluka and Kalluto a bag ready. He has just gotten down the stairs and is going to get one for Killua when everybody walks into the house. He smiles easily but Mito is behind them and puts her hands on her hips, waiting for Leorio to talk.

Before he can though, Kalluto walks in further to put their bag down and narrows their eyes, spotting Kurapika in the living room. They stiffen, staring at Kurapika but Leorio quickly gets between them.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Leorio says, putting his hand up placatingly. “But they’re here to help.”

“Help with what?” Kalluto asks flatly.

“Well, to put it bluntly, Kurapika is saying that because I saved them in the hospital, people took notice and are after me for it. Kurapika is here to help us avoid that.”

Kurapika stands up, clearing their throat. “We have to get moving.”

“I’m not convinced.” Killua speaks up. “How do we know you aren’t setting us up? You know me and Kalluto, you hired me and Kalluto. Who’s to say you don’t want us as leverage for somebody else?”

“I never hired you willingly. Killing is disgusting. I contracted your family because it gets done quickly and efficiently when my title as the boss was at stake. If I didn’t have people put down, I would have been usurped. With that said, I would never do something as underhanded as sacrificing children for my own gain.”

Killua doesn’t look convinced but Leorio butts in with, “We don’t have time to argue about this right now. You don’t have to trust them but I do. I have a bag packed for Alluka and Kalluto but not you, Killua. I was about to go do that but-”

“Yeah, yeah I can pack it.”

Killua sweeps off with Leorio calling after him, “Don’t forget all your stuff for needles! Last time you got cranky on vacation.”

Killua sticks his tongue out at Leorio over his shoulder. He leaves to his room quickly and quietly.

Kurapika doesn’t waste any time as they start calling around to different hotels, booking room after room under multiple different names. They turn from the group still in the foyer of the house, standing baffled and unsure what to do. 

“Why are you calling for so many rooms?” Mito asks when Kurapika pauses in their calls.

“Throw them off. In case they’re tracking my expenses through a mole in my own family, they won’t be able to find us for a bit.

When Killua has packed everything, Kurapika ushers them out and into the car parked in the driveway. Leorio has to sit in the middle row beside Kalluto with Alluka, Gon, and Killua sitting behind them. Mito went in front with Kurapika driving. They’re driving for a while, going out of town to one of the villages outside of town. 

Leorio starts dozing, waking up off and on from the stopping and stuttering of the car. Gon and Killua are talkative as always, helping cheer the mood in the car. Alluka is happily distracted from the pressing issue and Leorio feels Kalluto gently holding his hand when he wakes up briefly.

They finally stop at the edge of the woods half an hour from town. It’s a small wooden cottage with a garden peeking out from the side of the building. Kurapika leads the way through a small gate surrounding the cottage. 

Alluka walks through, clinging to Killua’s arm, hesitantly with Leorio holding the gate for them. Kurapika waits for them in the foyer of the cottage before slipping their own shoes off.

“Put your shoes on the rack so nobody trips.” They say curtly.

They disappear down the hall and water pouring is heard. 

Leorio leans down to undo his shoes and winces as he struggles to stand back up. His stitching is just starting to dissolve in his leg so he isn’t walking as easily as he would have liked. 

“You should sit down, Leorio.” Gon says.

Kalluto takes his good hand again and, without waiting for Leorio to respond, tugs him towards the living room to the right. He sits down with the kids quickly pulling the pillows behind his back. They all take various seats on the floor and in the remaining two spots. 

Kurapika comes back in, crossing their arms as they say, “I have water boiling. Would anybody like tea?”

Kalluto perks up gently but quickly tries to hide it as Alluka excitedly agrees.

“Kalluto likes tea with nothing in it.” Leorio speaks up after everybody else has agreed. 

Kurapika nods, disappearing for a few minutes before Alluka trails after them. They both come back with various mugs and cups, handing out the tea in order. Leorio holds his gently but doesn’t sip any, looking at Kurapika.

“Do you have enough room for all of us? Because if you don’t you shouldn’t force yourself.” he says.

Kurapika shrugs. “You will all be in the basement. You, though, Leorio, will be up on this floor so your leg isn’t aggravated going up and down stairs.|

“Who knows about this house?” Killua asks.

“Just me. It is an old cottage that nobody remembered. I redid some of it before I had joined any big families. It is a long forgotten spot that nobody will come looking for us in. But it is not safe enough to stay here long term as It’s too close to your home.”

“Convenient,” Killua mutters. Leorio elbows him gently.

“Don’t be rude. They’re hosting us at their own danger.”

“Whatever.”

Kurapika doesn’t press the issue and soon moves on. “We will be going to a private community in another country. I am waiting for confirmation that we have the flight booked and housing for everybody ready beforehand.”

“Where are we going?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Who all is coming with us?”

“Just me.”

“That’s not enough.” Killua stands from his spot beside Leorio. He clenches his fists and his shoulders are tight. “If anybody is hurt, it’ll be your head.” 

“I know that.” Kurapika says calmly. “I’m going to retrain you and Kalluto in fighting so you can protect yourselves if you’re ever in danger. Once Leorio is healed I will help him as well.”

“I wanna learn, too!” Gon pipes up.

“Absolutely not.” Mito interjects.

“But Aunt Mito, this is dangerous. I should be able to help!” 

“You’re only 16! This is too dangerous. Kalluto and Killua have been trained before, you haven’t! The most you’ve done is your Kung Fu lessons as a kid. What happens to them I have no control over. You, though, I do.”

“I don’t think they should be retrained in fighting.” Leorio says. Killua looks like he’s about to interrupt but Leorio looks at him as he says, “All three of you, I have full custody because I heard from Gon how horribly you were all treated. You shouldn’t be thrown back into it in any way. I took all of you because I knew if I was out of the picture, they would try to take you home and continue training you. I’m not about to do the exact thing I didn’t want them to do. What kind of guardian would I be? You all know basic defense skills and if I’m gone I can entrust Kurapika with finding you safe places to stay after.”

“That’s not fair!” Killua says angrily. “I can do it, so can Gon. I know more than basic fighting so retraining me and Kalluto is-”

“I understand you want to help but I don’t think it’s wise to involve you kids in this. You’re going to get hurt and-”

“I don’t care if I get hurt! You’re hurt enough because of us!” Killua’s knuckles were white and he shook as he stares angry and stubbornly at Leorio.

“I care if you’re hurt though. If anybody here got hurt because of me...If I can help it, I would rather we avoid fighting altogether and-”

“That’s not possible.” Kalluto says calmly. “They’ve already resorted to violence multiple times.”

Kalluto doesn’t elaborate further and they don’t have to. Leorio rubs underneath his glasses tiredly, not sure what else to say.

“The kids need to know how to protect themselves.” Kurapika says into the stiff silence. “You will not like it but that’s the reality of our situation. And they already have training, I am just making sure they know how to use it accurately still.”

“I never wanted you guys to have to be involved with your family business anymore.” Leorio sighs but eventually nods resolutely. “Alright. Since they’re willing to learn, Kalluto and Killua can retrain themselves with you. Alluka won’t join in because she doesn’t like fighting. If I see you try to treat them in any way shape or form like their parents, though-”

“I will not. I despise how they choose to raise children like tools as well. I’ve long since heard from people in the mafia what they do.”

Killua snorts. “They’re probably not even close to what we did..”

“I should learn how to fight, too. I was in martial arts before and-” Gon starts saying.

Mito doesn’t even let him finish before she says, “Absolutely not. I’m not hearing anymore of this. Leorio isn’t in charge of you so I have the final say and it is no.”

“Can we play instead of fighting now?” Alluka pipes up. She’s fidgeting with her hair, running her fingers through it over and over. 

Killua puts his hands on his hips, saying, “We need a better place to play though! Let’s go find one!”

Him, Alluka, and with some prompting, Kalluto all leave to find a place to play. Mito left to the kitchen with Kurapika after a moment and Gon tries to follow to argue more. Leorio gently grabs his arm, refusing to let go when Gon tries to wiggle out.

“Let it go. You know your aunt. She’s not going to change her mind anytime soon.” He says. 

Only when Gon deflates and nods does he let go.

Gon runs off to play with the other kids and soon Leorio is on his own in the living room. He starts to get up to go help in the kitchen when Kurapika walks down the hall, drying their hands on a dish towel. They see Leorio struggling to stand up and cross their arms.

“What are you doing?” They ask.

“I’m going to help you and Mito.”

“No you aren’t. Ms. Mito and I can handle dinner without you.”

“You’re our host, I should help some. And you’re still limping, you also shouldn’t be standing up as much.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ve had a month’s worth of sitting around already.”

“You should listen to your doctor.” Gon says simply, appearing beside Kurapika. “He’s a good doctor. When I broke my wrist, he made sure that I got a lot of suckers after my visit. Aunt Mito doesn’t know that part though so sh.”

Gon takes Kurapika’s hand and pulls them over to the couch, pushing them to sit down. Mito comes down the hall too and smiles at the scene. 

“I can get the kids to help me, just rest now.” She says before leaving again. 

Gon rummages around in his bag before he leaves behind Mito.

Kurapika doesn’t seem excited about it and is sitting stiffly beside Leorio. He doesn’t try to make conversation for a little bit but can’t help the question that comes out of him.

“Are you really helping us just because of guilt?”

Kurapika looks over at Leorio briefly, sighing. “Not entirely. When I was told that you were being targeted because you were my doctor I felt guilty but also angry. You were a civilian just doing your job. It didn’t feel right to ignore it, especially since you saved my life multiple times while I was there.”

Leorio scratches at his face, smiling bashfully. “Thank you. I don’t know what I would do if my kids got hurt by their family again.”

Kurapika gives a soft hum of agreement, nodding slightly. “Is Mito your partner?”

Leorio gives a snort, wincing when it irritates his ribs. “No, she’s a lesbian. She hasn’t dated anybody in a while because she was so focused on raising Gon, even when I tried to help her.”

“How did you two meet?”

“We were both in the same classes for our bachelor’s degree. She was going to be a nurse but she got Gon and took over custody so it was too much work for her to do all at once. Her cousin got knocked up and he dropped the baby out of nowhere.”

“Why doesn’t she restart school?”

“She told me she’s happy where she is since Ging, her cousin, gives them money to live and pays for their house and stuff. I think she likes living off of him because he’s rich and dumped his kid on Mito so she’s milking him dry as much as she can legally.”

“Maybe…” Kurapika says, balancing their head in their hand. “Why did you become a doctor, then?”

“Money.” 

“What?”

“You heard me,” Leorio says. He doesn’t need to look over to see Kurapika glaring at him. He isn’t phased though, just leaning his head against the couch behind him. “Surgeons are well paid and I was excited to be a part of it.”

Kurapika makes a disgusted noise, turning their body completely away from Leorio. He finds it amusing that the Mafia boss is trying to preach to him and doesn’t press it. They stew in the tense silence until dinner and Kurapika won’t look at him. 


	5. Chapter 5

The rest of the night is peaceful with Leorio helping set up the beds in the basement against everybody’s arguing he shouldn’t. Alluka is excited he was in the basement though as she got him to play dolls with her until bedtime. 

Mito stays in the basement with everybody else to make sure nothing happens to them and Leorio slowly makes his way back up the stairs. He doesn’t address Kurapika as he carefully changes his dressing on his leg. It was a little sloppy as he only had his left hand but it would work.

Leorio is washing his hand the best he can when he looks towards the basement door to see Alluka worriedly peeking out. Leorio stops, smiling.

“What’s up, Princess? Are you having trouble sleeping?” He asks.

She nods. “I’m scared. Killua is pacing a lot and doesn’t wanna sleep too.”

“Do you want me to talk to him?”

Alluka shyly nods again. “I don’t know what to say to him to get him to calm down. Dad treated him the worst out of us all. He was supposed to be the heir.”

Leorio frowns. He nods and opens his arm a little. Alluka runs forward and buries herself into Leorio’s hug. “I’ll talk to him. Can you get him up here when you go back down? If you get too upset, come find me up here any time during the night, same with all the other kids, okay?”

Alluka sniffs, lets go, and makes her way back down the steps carefully. She doesn’t want to turn the lights on as everything in the basement is connected so all the lights would come on and wake Gon and Mito.

Killua trudges up the stairs, hands in his pocket. He doesn’t look excited for this and just stands looking at the ground until Leorio says something.

“Jeez, kid. Look any more somber, why don’t you.” Leorio says, ruffling Killua’s hair. “Come over to the living room so I can talk with you.”

Killua just follows along, slumping into the couch beside Leorio. 

“I’m not here to lecture you, okay?” Leorio says, looking over at Killua worriedly. “Alluka came up and said that she was scared because you kept pacing. She also mentioned that you were treated the worst by your family and-”

“What about it?” Killua interjects, sounding defensive.

Leorio holds out his hand. “I just want to ask if you’re alright. You’ve seemed uptight for a while so I wanted to give you a chance to talk to somebody, if you needed it. I know this is probably hard, even if it doesn’t involve your family directly it’s still their business and will remind you of everything.”

“Well, I don’t need it.”

“I still need to ask. You deserve to have somebody to listen to if you’re upset.”

Killua doesn’t say something right away and Leorio looks over, getting shocked to his core to see Killua rubbing at his eyes.

“I’m not forcing you to talk, I just need you to know you can come to me if you’re overwhelmed. This can’t be easy for you, having to deal with the people that hurt you.”

“They didn’t hurt me that badly.” Killua mumbles. 

Leorio sighs, turning so he could fully face Killua. “Kalluto told me that when you ran away once as a kid, you were taken home and they locked you up in the basement and tortured you. You were made to be an example.”

“It wasn’t-” Killua starts to say but he stops. He crosses his arms, slouching further into the cushions.

“That was abusive. No child should go through that. Even you. They might excuse it with training you to be a good assassin by feeding you poison to be resistant to most, or electrocuting you, or whatever. It was still abuse you all should not have gone through.”

Leorio doesn’t push the subject farther than that. Killua just nods, blinking rapidly. Leorio ruffles his hair gently.

“Try to get some sleep. We don’t know what’ll happen tomorrow so you’ll need it. Maybe share with Alluka if you’re scared, too.”

Killua leaves Leorio in the dimly lit living room. He stares at the deep green walls and couldn’t stop thinking about what he had been told in snippets of what his kids had gone through. In court, the custody battle that went on and the stories that the three told, they almost acted like it was fun for them. Being able to do things like resist poisons, it left him sick to his stomach and the soft boiling hatred for the Zoldyck family had cured and simmered for two years before it finally came to a head. He couldn’t ever imagine treating children like that and couldn’t ever feel anything but hatred for them.

Kurapika stands beside the couch, looking at Leorio. “I don’t believe you when you say you became a doctor just for the money. Seeing how you treat those children, the patients at the hospital all knowing you by name, it’s not right.”

Leorio rubs the back of his neck, not looking at them. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“Then why lie about it?”

Leorio deflates a little, saying softly, “When I was a kid, I was really poor. My parents both lost their jobs. Only had a friend but he got sick. He...died right in front of me. It was pneumonia he had. Very treatable, right? Healthcare got so expensive though...I wanted to give free treatment originally but I...I can’t. I got stuck in this town because I have to raise these kids with a stable home life so I took the job in this town as the ER trauma doctor. I don’t hate them for it because I love providing what they deserve, though.”

“You could still provide the healthcare you want.”

“How? I need equipment, staff, the building, the other things like rent, water, heat. It’s so much to pay for. You can’t do free healthcare with the legislation in place right now.”

Kurapika looks over, smiling softly. Leorio flushes, looking away hastily.

“Don’t let any of the kids see you looking at me like that. Think you’re into me or something.”

“I knew there was more to you than money,” Kurapika says as they turn and leave. 

Leorio didn’t answer and let Kurapika go. He isn’t quite sure how to, if he’s honest.

The group leaves early the next morning. It’s about three hours driving so Kurapika has them all up. Mito helps get everybody packed and ready with Leorio making a small breakfast. Kurapika tries to object but Leorio won’t hear it.

“Unless you want to listen to the kids whine that they’re hungry for three hours, you’re going to wait until they eat.” Leorio had said. It shut Kurapika’s complaints up.

They pull off into a gated community with modest housing three hours later, right on schedule. The lawns are green with garden beds of a variety of different colours. Alluka and Kalluto can’t help but look excited at the different houses in the community with Gon excitedly asking about the gardens, if they could do that too. 

The neighbours in their yards stop and wave to the newcomers but don't come over to greet them, content with seeing who the new neighbours are for now from a distance. Kurapika ushers everybody in quickly, locking the door behind them. 

There are three stories to the house with the main level holding the dining room, kitchen, main bathroom, and the front door leading into the living room. Everything is furnished with couches and loveseats in the main room with an open concept leading upstairs with enough rooms for everybody. The basement is fully finished with more room.

Gon and Killua immediately run off to explore and claim their rooms. Alluka and Kalluto go at a slower but still more excited pace. Mito, Leorio, and Kurapika stay to figure out the security details they need to know.

It isn’t long until they are settled into the house. The kids eventually move to playing outside in a spacious backyard with a high fence that gives plenty of privacy. Leorio sits on the steps of the back deck to watch them as Mito went to lay down, tired from not getting enough sleep the night before. Kurapika can’t relax though as they immediately start making sure every electronic in the house is safe to use.

The life in the new gated community is different but still felt natural for the group. Their neighbours are all nice and soon the kids are in school and playing with the neighbour kids as well. Kurapika tells them this later but this community is exclusively for people in police witness protection. Everybody there is hiding from somebody so never pry about lives before they move in, just friendly and there to chat about the weather and nothing more.

“How did you get a house-?” Leorio started to ask when Kurapika told him and Mito.

“I have a friend inside the main police office in charge of this community. I pulled in a favour with him.” They said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

It stays quiet for a few months. 

Leorio starts as a part time nurse at the ER, only doing a few shifts a week at most. His hand was finally out of a cast and when he was doing minor physiotherapy, the staff found out he was a doctor before and told him about an opening. He jumped at the chance to work again after so long. 

Mito and Alluka work on a garden the most with Kurapika training the other two kids on fighting again. Leorio watches them sometimes when he can and can't believe their skill. He almost feels worried they would want to go back to their family.

Leorio is also training with Kurapika though. He works tirelessly to get better because he doesn’t want his kids to have to fight, he doesn’t want them to ever  _ need  _ to fight. 

He pushes himself to exhaustion on top of his nursing job. He’s asked why he doesn’t become a full doctor but he can’t answer the staff truthfully. He laughs, saying things like it was too much responsibility for him. But really being a full time doctor got them all in this situation. He doesn’t want to cost their safety a second time.

One night, when he finally is able to come home, all he can do is fall onto the couch. He’s exhausted and can’t even sit up. His arms and legs are sore from the constant sparring he does with Kurapika and now Killua and Kalluto. He’s just ready to sleep for a year. He knew being a nurse is hard and just as demanding as being a surgeon but he could never have imagined what it was like until he actually did it.

He sleeps in and out for a few minutes but hears somebody come behind him, placing a blanket on him softly. He jerks up and collides with Kurapika’s chin. They step back, their eyes closed as they rub their chin. 

Leorio laughs nervously. “Sorry about that. Kind of high strung to people sneaking up on me.”

“No, it is my fault for trying to be quiet.” Kurapika says. They turn to leave but think better of it, looking behind them as they ask, “Have you ate?”

“Nah, it was too busy for me to do much on my breaks. I technically had an hour but I accidentally fell asleep so-” Leorio shrugs. He sits up, rubbing at his eyes. “I’m just gonna go to bed-too much work to make something this late.”

“There are leftovers I can heat for you.”

“Really, you’re going to help me?”

Kurapika doesn't respond, just disappearing into the kitchen. There is a soft clinking of dishes as he makes the plate for Leorio, who barely keeps his eyes open in the short moments it takes Kurapika to come back. They place the food on the coffee table in front of him, also setting a glass of water and a napkin.

“What changed from you not even looking at us?” Leorio asks, reeling back to see Kurapika’s face.

“I felt it might be best that I can talk to you and Mito more easily. Before, I thought we would only be here for a few weeks but the people I’ve sent to gather information on the Zoldyck family all come back dead or severely injured. I’m resigned to staying here with you all for longer than a year so I am trying to be friendly.”

Leorio can’t argue with that. “Thank you, then. Are all the kids asleep?”

“Yes, I stayed up to make sure you got home safely.”

“Th-wow, you really take the bodyguard thing seriously.”

“Of course. Now eat before it gets cold. Do you want tea? I’m making some for myself before bed.”

Leorio shakes his head and Kurapika disappears again into the kitchen. He starts eating, downing most of the plate in minutes from just how hungry he is. Kurapika comes back and sits down gingerly beside Leorio.

“I don’t bite, you can talk to me about anything, really.” Leorio says jokingly.

They don’t say anything but did move closer a little. 

“Why did you join the mafia?” Leorio asks out of the blue. The silence has been getting to him a little as he eats and the question burns in his throat every time they sit together, not quite sure if he should ask but still wanting to know.

“My clan…” Kurapika starts. They stop, almost chewing on the words they want to say before continuing. “They have eyes that turn red with emotion. They weren’t very well known but from older books you could find accounts of people visiting our village saying they were the most beautiful shade of red in the world.

“They were slaughtered by a family after finding our village. I was the only survivor to find them. Their eyes were all taken and...I want to take their eyes home for a proper burial. The family that did it and anybody that partakes in the sale of my clans eyes will all meet an end by me. I use my position to look for them and power to strong arm families into gathering information they don’t even know is for me.”

Leorio gently sets his food down, taking a drink of his water as he ruminates on what he was just told. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. There isn’t much else for me to say other than that but…”

“I have come close to finding the last of my bretheren’s eyes. It is just I need to finish the family that started everything now. The person I use as my right hand is out helping me look while I’m here to take care of you and your family. I have to be careful with my position currently as I could be usurped without warning and killed.”

“I doubt you’d give up without a fight if you’ve been on this path for as long as you have. If you need a doctor or surgeon, you know who to call.” Leorio looks over and gently elbows Kurapika, making them smile gently.

“I will keep that in mind. Thank you, Leorio.”

They continue talking quietly as Leorio finishes eating, about each of their days, the progress of the boys and Kalluto, and other small things that come to mind. 

Soon, Leorio gets up and starts to take his dishes into the kitchen to wash them but Kurapika takes them from his hands. Leorio tries to protest but Kurapika just stands in his way to the kitchen until he turns and starts up the stairs to his room.

The next night is a similar thing, Kurapika waiting up for him as he gets home late, heating the plate left in the fridge for him, and sitting with their glass of tea as they talk. It starts to become a ritual within the next week for them to do that, anytime Leorio works later in the night. He never expects it as he knew Kurapika must have been exhausted and even tries to convince them to stop doing it and think about their own exhaustion.

“I do not sleep easy anymore. I wake up easily and I get maybe three hours of sleep. This is no problem to help make sure you are also taking care of yourself.” Kurapika says.

Leorio isn’t sure how to respond and ended up saying, “Well, when you work late one of these days I’ll make sure I’m the one waiting up for you with your dinner and some tea.”

It might have been the lighting but Leorio thought that Kurapika’s face changed colour, tinting pink just a little.

The next week, when Leorio gets home though, Kurapika is getting a coat on, ready to leave behind him coming in.

“What’s up?” Leorio asks, squeezing behind Kurapika in the cramped entrance way.

“I have my right hand coming to take my place. I am going to meet her right now. I need to go to meetings with other families so I don’t look weak in front of them for not showing up after they knew I was hurt.”

“You guys have meetings? Like a boardroom kind of meeting?”

“Yes, it’s not quite unusual as we also have to deal with the different lands, regions, etc. My right hand will be here for a week in my place as I take care of everything. I am going to meet her before I leave tomorrow morning.”

“I’ll come with you to meet her, then. I want to make sure-”

Kurapika is already leaving out the door and Leorio hurries to catch up. He doesn’t have to walk far with his height and Kurapika doesn’t comment on him following. 

They go to the end where the gate to the community was. She is waiting there patiently to be let through. She smiles, bowing her head gently to Kurapika as they open the gate.

“Hello, Mr. Kurapika.” She says. She turns to Leorio and bows her head as well, reaching her hand out as she says, “My name is Melody. I will be helping Kurapika throughout the next week to protect you all. It’s nice to meet you.”

She is quite a bit shorter than Leorio so he had to stoop a little to shake her hand but smiles nonetheless.

“Nice to meet you, Ms. Melody. I’m Leorio. My kids are all asleep right now so I’ll introduce you tomorrow to everybody.”

Melody smiles, soon following the two and making idle chatter with them. Leorio directs Melody towards the last room in the house. He carries her bag in before hurriedly getting things to dress the bed for her. Kurapika won’t be gone until the next morning so they disappear to their own room soon after Melody is settled. 

The next morning, the kids are all rowdy in the morning before school, Killua messing around with Kalluto while Alluka and Gon ate, watching them annoy each other.

“Hey, guys,” Leorio says over the noise.

Killua only quiets when Gon shoves a roll into his face, letting Leorio continue speaking.

“Thank you, Gon.” Leorio says with an amused wink. “Kurapika is gone for a week and in their place they asked their right hand to come and look over us.”

Leorio steps to the side to let Melody step forward and bow gently. “I’m Melody and am pleased to make your acquaintance.

Alluka shyly moves closer to Kalluto as Killua crosses his arms, scrutinizing her. Leorio frowns and pushes him forward.

“This is Killua, he’s the oldest-” Leorio starts.

“I’m the oldest!” Gon exclaims, standing up.

“Yes but you aren’t Killua’s brother.” Leorio says. Killua stuck his tongue out at Gon who quickly caught Killua around the neck.

“That’s Gon, this is Alluka, Kalluto, and Mito is in the shower so she’ll be down in a second. I’ll go tell her you’re here so she doesn’t get a shock.” 

Leorio leaves the kitchen and returns quickly enough, starting to get breakfast for everybody else. Kurapika appears while Leorio is talking to Mito and is quietly reading one of their many books, Melody sitting happily beside them. 

“What do you want, Kurapika? Ms. Melody?” Leorio asks, getting cereal down from the top of the fridge for Kalluto.

“I’m fine.” Kurapika says.

“You’re traveling all day, eat something or the kids won’t let you leave until you do.” 

“Yeah, Mr. Kurapika.” Alluka speaks up. “You should have cereal. The milk will help you grow big and strong!”

“They aren’t going to grow anymore.” Killua interjects. “Same with Gon. He’s stuck at 5 foot 5 the rest of his life.”

“You don’t know that!” Gon says.

“Unlike me, who will grow to be 6 foot 5-”

“You’re not going to be taller than me, sorry.” Leorio says. “I refuse to accept it as your guardian.”

Killua kicks at Leorio jokingly and he laughs at the attempt. He turns back to Kurapika, who is hoping they would be forgotten about, with an expectant look.

Kurapika sighs, “Fine. I will have some toast. I can get it-”

“Nope, I’m in charge of breakfast. Ms. Melody, what would you like?”

“I will have some toast as well, if it’s not too much.” 

Leorio finishes breakfast with everybody and quickly gets them all out of the door. They walk all the kids to the bus stop, waiting with them until it comes and leaves. Kurapika doesn’t stick around long and quickly is on their way. 

Leorio has to stop them in their rush to leave behind them coming back inside. “You have some jam left on your face, let me-”

Leorio moves to wipe the jam off with his sweater sleeve. Kurapika gives him a soft noise. He isn’t sure if it’s a warning or of content but he doesn’t stop. He holds Kurapika’s face and he realizes their eyes are a deep brown that becomes lighter near the edges. He almost stares but Kurapika’s face is bright red and they hurriedly bustle past when Leorio hurriedly lets them go. 

Melody gives a soft smile to Leorio.

The week goes by fast and Melody fits in incredibly well with their schedules. She helps keep up with Kalluto and Killua’s fighting, watching over them and correcting their forms easily. She shows them small things to do to help improve on top of it. They don’t expect her to actually fight as well as she does, shocked when Killua is put flat on his back when she was showing the two a self defense move.

Kurapika comes back and Melody leaves, the kids sadly watching her go. Leorio isn’t able to see her off, forgetting she’s leaving that day. He comes home, seeing Kurapika sitting up with tea, staring out the window, almost in a daze.

Leorio walks over, putting his jacket and briefcase on a chair, softly. The small noise scares them still, their flinch making Leorio narrow his eyes.  
“What’s wrong?” Leorio asks, undoing his tie as he sits down beside Kurapika.

“It is nothing.”

“You can tell me if something is bothering you, you know.” Leorio presses.

Kurapika doesn’t say anything. Leorio is about to get up to change and go to bed when they finally set their mug down, gently putting their face in their hands. Leorio doesn’t leave, waiting awkwardly by the edge of the couch in case they start talking. 

“It’s the anniversary of me finding my clan.” Kurapika mumbles.

Leorio almost doesn’t hear him. He makes a soft ‘oh’, sitting back down. He doesn’t know what to say and all he could do was sit with them. After a moment, he offers his hand in Kurapika’s eye line, making them look up indignantly.

“What, if you want, you can hold my hand.” Leorio says, looking away as he pursed his lips. “I’ll sit with you as long as you need. Nobody should suffer through trauma alone.”

Kurapika doesn’t answer again but gently slips their hand into Leorio’s outstretched one. 

They don’t talk after that. Leorio could feel himself falling asleep in the comfortable silence, his head falling against the back of the couch. Kurapika is still looking out the window but moves to sit in a more relaxed position as well. They both end up falling asleep holding hands on the couch.

Kurapika wakes up a few hours later, facing Leorio and feels himself jolt back in shock. The movement wakes Leorio up who blearily sits up slowly. 

“Man, didn’t expect to fall asleep.” He says, smiling over at Kurapika. “I guess we both should go to bed then, so we don’t fall asleep and get a kink in our necks.”

Kurapika nods. They stand quickly and start to leave before pausing at the living room entrance. “Thank you...for sitting with me.”

“I don’t mind. I understand how hard it can be around the anniversary of losing people. Can’t imagine how much it could hurt for you. I can always hold your hand next time, too.”

Leorio means the last part as a joke but Kurapika turns to look over their shoulder, nodding with a gentle smile. “Thank you...I offer the same courtesy to you, should you ever need it.” 

The routine stays the same for a while. It is five months into their stay in the gated community. Leorio has managed to tell the hospital he couldn’t come back to work there, saying he has to take care of family, and got indefinite leave. The kids all start adjusting to their new school life, making friends. Killua and Gon are rowdy as ever, always running around outside or their neighbourhood, stirring up trouble for themselves as they explore. Mito keeps busy with Kurapika at the house, the two falling into routines of cleaning, laundry, etc so they don’t step on the other’s toes. 

Kurapika isn’t the best at cooking, having admitted before that they didn’t do much outside of prepackaged things. Leorio laughs but Mito is quick to shut him down, swatting him with a towel.

“I remember very well that you were the same way in college. Wouldn’t even look at anything besides a microwave some days.”

“I was in med school, give me a break. I was poor.”

Mito rolls her eyes and he hears Kurapika snort. He gives a half hearted glare to Kurapika before he feels Gon hang onto his shoulders. 

“Leorio burned the food a lot before, I like Mito’s cooking more.” Gon says.

Leorio elbows Gon’s side, wrapping an arm around Gon’s neck in a loose chokehold. “Don’t give me that when you can’t either. Mito’s always going to be the best cook but  _ I  _ can bake.”

“Can we make cookies?!” Alluka yells from the living room.

“I don’t see why not.” Leorio says back.

Alluka sprints into the kitchen, happily crashing into a hug against Kurapika. “Hey, Kurapika, can you help us bake? We can show you how to make stuff!”

Kurapika, frozen at Alluka brashly hugging onto him, tries to hide their discomfort as they smile, nodding. Leorio quickly scoops her up, holding her under his arm.

“Careful around them, Kiddo. They don’t like hugs like I do. Let’s find our chocolate chip recipe, do you remember where you put it last time, Kalluto?”

It is that sort of chaotic calm that seems to melt the shell around Kurapika faster and faster as the months go on. It was six months in and finally, Kurapika is helping around the house in a way that's more than just chores. They were sparing with Kalluto and Killua but they were soon helping with homework, playing with Alluka and Kalluto when they were home. They weren’t just shutting everything out. 

Alluka and Kalluto start coming home excitedly looking for Kurapika to play with. When Leorio is home from work, he is pulled into it as well. Soon, Kurapika is waiting for the kids at the bus stop, walking them all home, hearing them all chatter excitedly about their day to them, then letting them pull them around to play with one or the other after their homework was done. 

It’s a normalcy Kurapika had not had for so long. It creates a longing ache in their chest whenever they’d see Leorio reading with Kalluto for homework with them in his lap or when Killua dove behind Kurapika when Gon was chasing him with a ball of mud he kept insisting wasn’t mud. It is normal that makes Kurapika almost feel like their family is slowly being stitched back together again after all these years. 

It isn’t long until something finally happens that shatters it.


	6. Chapter 6

Kurapika, the day before, had left in a hurry. They talked to Leorio about it before they left.

“I have figured out where the last of my brethen’s eyes are.” Kurapika said, sounding winded and excited.

They had caught Leorio at the door as he came in from weeding the garden. He smiled excitedly at the news.

“Really? You have to go, you have to get them.” Leorio said. 

“I cannot. It is too risky-”

Leorio shook his head. “This is bigger than us. You’ve been trying to do this for however long. You need to get your family back.”

“But you will be unguarded. I cannot leave my post.”

Leorio sighed, shaking his head. “The kids can take care of themselves, Melody can come back if she’s available, Mito and I can take care of ourselves. This is something you’ve been working towards for years. Don’t let this chance slip through your fingers because of us.”

Kurapika’s shoulders almost shook with the effort to stand still, staring angrily at the ground. Leorio stepped forward and put a hand on Kurapika’s shoulder.

“Go. We’ll be fine.”

They slowly nodded, looking up and giving a soundless thank you to Leorio. There was a red tinge in their eyes that Leorio was shocked by but he smiled, stepping back to let them fly up the stairs and pack a small travel bag. 

He saw Kurapika off, waving as they pulled out of the driveway in their car. Mito came in from the backyard, having been hanging up laundry.

“Did Kurapika just leave?” She asked.

“Yeah, they’ll be gone for a week most likely. Something came up, they have to take care of right away.”

“Oh, is everything alright?” 

“Yeah, it’s fine.” Leorio said, moving to go into the kitchen and wash his hands.

It’s the next day, when Alluka sprints in, crying and shaking, unable to even say anything through her sobs, that Leorio feels his body grow cold. 

“What’s wrong, what happened?” Leorio tries to ask her. 

She can’t say anything though, crying in a crumpled heap in the doorway. Gon is running up the street behind her, his face dirty with his nose bleeding slightly. Kalluto and Killua aren’t there.

“Where are your other siblings?” Leorio tries again to Alluka.

Gon is the one that answers, panting through his words as he says, “Kalluto...They’re still back there. They...Somebody came for them and Killua. He threw Alluka away so they wouldn’t be able to get her.”

“Who’s they?” Leorio asks. He holds Alluka to his chest, alarmed, and feeling like he doesn’t need to ask.

“I don’t know,” Alluka wails.

Leorio feels his blood boil, his rashness from when he was younger coming up. But he breathes in, closing his eyes as he asks, “Where is Kalluto? Are they still at the bus stop?”

“They started fighting somebody but Killua was pulled away and-”

Just then Kalluto is stumbling into the door. They clatter to the ground in a heap, panting as they regained their composure. 

“Kalluto, are you alright? Are any of you hurt? Let me look-” Leorio starts, gently taking their hand to pull them into a sitting position.

Kalluto is dirty, mud caked into their hair and out of breath, but there is nothing besides a small stream of blood from the corner of their mouth. 

“Okay, let’s all calm down. Gon, go get a tissue and hold it against your nose while you lean forward for 10 minutes. Alluka, go into the kitchen and get my first aid kit under the sink, please? I need to check your sibling isn’t hurt.”

Alluka, slowly calming down, nods and hurrys into the kitchen. Gon follows, looking angry. Kalluto has trouble catching their breath still and Leorio gently stands them up and guides them to the living room. He sits them down in a stiffer backed chair, checking their pulse as Alluka hurries back in with the first aid kit.

“Okay, Kalluto, I need you to breathe with me now. You’re not breathing right and it could lead you to hyperventilate. When I breathe in, try to follow me, okay?”

Kalluto nods. They slowly regain their breathing and soon Leorio checks them to see if they have a concussion or anything major is wrong. He takes out his stethoscope to listen to her stomach to check for internal bleeding as well but it seems that everything is alright. 

“You must have bit down on your tongue when you were fighting.” Leorio says as he gently wipes a wet paper towel over Kalluto’s face. 

“What do we do?” Gon asks.

“I’m not sure.” Leorio says. “Kurapika has all the connections so we’re going to have to call them and say this might have been a set up. They left and suddenly people taking my kids show up...it’s too close. Mito is out shopping so she should be back soon. Let’s start a bath for you, Kalluto. Gon, you’re after them too.”

Leorio helps run baths for the two. Alluka has calmed down enough and soon Leorio is distracting her by letting her play a game on his phone. Before that, he had called Mito to tell her to hurry home. He doesn’t say much but she understands the urgency/ They all gather in the kitchen after Kalluto and Gon are finished bathing, with Mito coming in during Gon’s bath. 

She rushes in, locking the door behind her carefully and taking her shoes off as she yells down the hall, “Hello? Where’s Gon and Kalluto?”

“We’re all in the kitchen.” Leorio calls back. 

She hurries in, looking Gon’s face overly fearfully before doing the same to Kalluto. “You’re both alright, not hurt?”

“There were a lot of scrapes and scratches for Kalluto and Gon had a bloody nose but no concussion.” Leorio says. “Killua was-”

Leorio cuts himself off, not wanting to upset the kids again. Mito nods, putting the groceries on the counter and starting to put them away.

It’s a tense rest of the night. They all sit in relative closeness, not wanting to stray from everybody’s eyeline too much. Leorio calls Kurapika a few times but gets no answer each time. It’s becoming more and more frustrating until Leorio angrily has to give up for the night. 

He sat up later than everybody else, sitting on the couch in the living room, thinking what he could do. He has Melody’s contact information just in case but he isn’t sure where she lives and if he should call, should it be late for her. Kurapika isn’t going to answer him if he calls since they already didn’t answer five different phone calls before. He has little more in terms of connections to any underground operations Kurapika might. 

He sighs, sitting up and deciding to call Kurapika one more time before finally calling Melody.

It rings seven times and Leorio is about to hang up before the line picks up and an irritated Kurapika says, “What?”

“Oh thank Christ. It’s Leorio. Wherever you are, be careful. I think this might have been a trap. Killua was taken today. We don’t know where and we haven’t found out for sure but we think they wanted to hurt us or it could have been their parents or-” 

Leorio cuts off, angrily running his hands through his hair. Kurapika is silent on the other end and Leorio almost wonders if they even heard him. But there is an angry, guttural noise from Kurapika. 

“I’ll be back by tomorrow night. Don’t leave the house, don’t go outside, close all the curtains.”

“I know, I’ll make sure they aren’t hurt again. And if I call, pick up.”

Leorio hangs up and eventually pulls himself upstairs after triple checking everything is locked and the alarm system is on. He sleeps restlessly, getting up with the kids as they start moving around eight. 

It‘s the same tense scene as they all wait away from windows in the kitchen. Leorio makes breakfast and the dishes are cleaned but they all stay in the general area, not wanting to endanger anybody by straying too far. 

They all sit around, trying to discuss and figure out  _ something  _ they can do in the living room that night. Nobody is able to sleep as they wait for Kurapika to come home and it was all they could do. 

Kurapika comes in, in a rush, panting and wild eyed. Leorio isn’t sure if he looks any better as he had been exhausted and fighting back any emotion in front of the kids. 

Alluka seems incredibly relieved, rushing forward on instinct to hug them. She stops short, realizing in front of Kurapika they didn’t like hugs. Kurapika ruffles her hair with a gentle smile, putting a similarly gentle arm around her. 

“I’m sorry you had to go through that, all three of you. I’m going to correct this at once.” Kurapika says, locking eyes with Leorio.

Now that Kurapika is there, the kids refuse to go to bed until something is thought of.

“What do we know?” Kurapika asks the group.

“Not much,” Mito says. “Kalluto is sure that they’ve seen them before but it could be anybody from one of their jobs or Killua’s.”

“Do you have anything to contact your par-”

“No,” Leorio says forcefully.

Kurapika shoots him a look but quickly abandons that line of thought. “Fine, what about Alluka?”

“I wasn’t allowed outside.” She says, sniffling. “I never went on jobs so I have no real way to know who this person is.”

“Killua and I were the main ones to go on jobs when we were younger for the family. Mitsuki never leaves his room and Illumi doesn’t stick around home long either.” 

The room lapses into silence as they all stay deep in thought. It stays like that until, half an hour later, Kurapika’s phone rang. 

Everybody jumps from the shrill noise and Kurapika furrows their eyebrows.

“Hello?” They answer.

“Ah, nice to talk with you, Kurapika. I have a bone to pick with the Zoldycks.” The person says. Their voice is gravelly, like their throat is hurt and never recovered from it. 

“Who are you? Are you the ones that attacked them today?”

Leorio sits up even straighter, the others looking expectantly, waiting for the next answer. It’s somewhat easy to hear what the person is saying but Kurapika puts them on speaker, setting the phone down and making sure to give a silent warning for the others to stay quiet.

“Yes, little Kalluto was quite fast. I didn’t expect him to go like he did. I’ve never met the one in the green boots before though. He had quite a punch when I went for the other son.”

“You have Killua.”

It isn’t a question but the person laughs, saying, “Yes! Naturally, we can’t let you know where we are but I will give you some advice. Stop looking for us. If you don’t do anything we might let you have his body. He did this to himself.”

In the short pause, there is a horrific yell in the background. Leorio takes his glasses off, rubbing his nose so he doesn't throw the phone. Alluka buries her face into Kalluto’s shoulder.

“Ah, sorry about that. Little brat wouldn’t sit still.” the person laughs again like this was a game to them. “Well, I’ll call back soon. I’ll let you guys get a good sleep. Oh, and Kurapika? This is your fault too.”

The line goes dead and Alluka lets out a wail, Kalluto looks grey with the fear they had tried to push down for so long. Mito and Gon are equally silent but Gon is seething while Mito is almost defeated.

“I recorded the conversation.” Kurapika says shortly. “Give me a few hours so that I can piece it apart for any other background noise that could give us a clue as to where he might be being kept.”

“Let me do it.” Leorio says. Kurapika is about to protest but Mito talks over them.

“That’s a good idea. You’ve been driving and on the move for too long. Take a rest while Leorio works then when you wake up Leorio can rest. It would help all of us knowing something is being done while neither of you are over exerting yourself.”

Kurapika blinks, not sure what to say to that. Gon takes that time to finally speak up.

“Leorio won’t let us down. He said he used to work with audio stuff all the time! We’ll find them and get Killua back in no time with you two.”

“What?” Kurapika says in disbelief.

Leorio shrugs. “In one of my university years it was a mandatory course to do something with technology. Just kind of kept up learning stuff after that for computers and audio mixing.”

Gon stands up and starts to pull Kurapika towards the stairs, effectively cutting off the rest of the conversation. Mito, Alluka, and Kalluto all file out after them and soon Leorio is left with Kurapika’s phone, putting the recording on his laptop and piecing it apart in audio software to make sure nothing is missed. 

A lot of it is sounds from a regular house like it settling, the heating kicking on, the buzz of lights. But there was one thing that was different. There are people talking in the background. 

After some work, Leorio manages to isolate the voices and soon it’s clear and easier to hear what they’re saying. 

There are still spotty parts but for the most part he could hear clearly, “Did they call the cops?”

Another voice comes in after that, “Yeah. Came yesterday...mestic disturbance...the kid wouldn’t sh...up. Who knew the lung...Neighbours keep -ing over...suburbs sure are quiet.”

There’s some laughter and the yelling starts. The sound makes Leorio sick to his stomach to hear. Killua was never in much pain vocally, even after he had gotten hurt multiple times rough housing with Gon, he never complained about it hurting. He never screamed like that. 

He can’t help the wave of emotions hitting him as he sits, staring at the computer screen with the broken down recording. Dawn has started and the sun shines on the screen so he can see himself. His bags are worse, he looks almost sallow and sickly with messed up hair, no glasses, and more stubble than usual. His eyes are bloodshot and soon spill over with tears.

Somebody clears their throat and he quickly wipes his tears away, seeing Kurapika standing behind the couch. He doesn’t say anything, quickly gathering everything up and handing Kurapika their phone back.

“The password to my laptop is kilkalall3 if it shuts off at any point on you.” Leorio mutters as he gets up, going to move past them.

“What’s...wrong?” they ask, stepping a little to the left so Leorio couldn’t pass.

Leorio smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes and he looks so broken down it hurts for Kurapika to see. “Hearing Killua in the background...it’s nothing. I left the recording open and I think I isolated everything in it but-”

His voice cracks and he has to stop. Kurapika isn’t sure what to do but doesn’t want Leorio to go off on his own. They know what it was like to feel this on your own. 

Without thinking, they grab Leorio’s hand as he goes to move past. Their face goes pink but ignores it as they gently hold their other arms up, scared to say or do anything farther.

Leorio smiles, sniffling as he bends down to accept the hug. Either from exhaustion or grief, Leorio feels his legs give out and soon Kurapika is holding him on the floor as he clutches the back of their shirt, his shoulders heaving in gentle, silent sobs. 

They don’t say anything to the other but it’s almost like they don’t need to as Leorio feels them cradling his head against their chest. It takes him a second to finally calm down, pulling back from the embrace. 

Kurapika offers a handkerchief they have in their pocket and he quickly wipes his face. 

“Do you need to talk about what you are feeling?” they ask after a moment of them both staring towards each other.

Leorio gives a watery little laugh. “You don’t have to listen.”

“But I’m willing.”

Leorio says after another moment, “I’ve never heard him in such pain and I can’t...He’s my son. It should be me.”

Kurapika frowns gently. “He’s been through torment before. He won’t break easily. We will find him no matter what.”

“I know we will, I just...he shouldn’t have ever have had to deal with this world again. The thought that he’s getting hurt like that….I get so angry. He shouldn’t…”

Leorio rubs his eyes and Kurapika gently nods, still holding his hand. There isn’t much else to say and soon Kurapika tugs on his hand, gently helping him up. They direct him towards the kitchen. They sit him down and start making tea while Leorio slowly calms down, sniffing less and less as they sit in silence.

The day becomes a busy one later on. Leorio gets up to Gon, Mito, Kalluto, and Alluka all helping Kurapika look through files that have appeared out of nowhere. He’s been pushed into Kurapika’s bedroom after refusing to go to bed right away with Kurapika sitting up, making sure he fell asleep and stayed in bed. 

“What’s all this?” Leorio asks, curiously looking at the file Mito was holding over her shoulder.

“With what you got from the recording we’re looking through police reports in the last day for domestic disturbances.” Mito answers, sounding tired already.

“Why? There’s so many files for domestic disturbances and we don’t even know where they are.”

“Yes, we do.” Kurapika answers. At Leorio’s questioning look, they continue, saying, “While you were asleep they had called back. I had a program ready to trace where their call came from and the call originated near a cell tower fifty kilometres from here. We are looking at the police reports for this area for suburbs.”

“This seems a little complicated. Can’t we ask any police around the area instead?”

“They won’t talk to me.” Kurapika says bluntly. “They know who I am and would find something suspicious about it. I make sure that they do not bother my family and I do not bother them.”

“Also, it’s quite dangerous for us because they might not know if we’re here officially or not if they ask where we live.” Mito speaks up. “Kurapika hasn’t exactly the best ties and if we’re seen altogether it might lead to trouble for their friend that got us into staying here in the first place.”

Leorio shrugs, sitting down by Kalluto and picking up a folder like the rest. 

There are more folders the more they look. It was a bigger city with a lot of suburbs so trying to find the report is a hassle. It takes hours but finally, they find a report detailing a neighbour's concern about a silver haired teen going in that hasn’t come out in three days now. It also details the domestic disturbance claim that they could hear yelling near the basement windows.

Mito is the one to read this and she quickly gets everybody’s attention when she reads the contents. 

“This has to be him, this has to be where they’re being kept.” Mito says, excitedly letting Leorio also look at the report. 

“Who knew the police were good for something,” Leorio comments. He’s in a state of shock with seeing results so soon. 

“If you’re going to get him, I’m coming.” Gon says with no room for argument.

Leorio looks at Mito, raising an eyebrow. She sighs, rubbing her forehead.

“I’m not going to stop you. This entire situation is dangerous and I understand that. You have to save Killua and if I didn’t let you, you’d find a way to sneak out. I don’t like it but, Gon, I won’t object to you going.” Mito said. She turned to Leorio, her eyes sharp as she continued, “But if he comes home hurt, you’re the one that will have to deal with me.”

Leorio puts up his hands, laughing nervously. “I can’t promise we won’t be hurt but I will do my best to minimize it. I don’t plan to have my kids fight for me.”

It is without fail that Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika all start packing. Kalluto has mentioned that they would stay behind to protect Alluka and Mito just in case anything went wrong on their end. Leorio is reluctant because the thought of Kalluto having to defend their family and be constantly on guard makes him sick but they’re determined. 

“It will be fine,”they say with a stern and resolute look in their eyes. 

Leorio smiles, ruffling their hair. He goes to stand up but Kalluto hurriedly throws their arms around his neck and squeezes tightly. Leorio’s smile turns soft as he pats their back, giving them a gentle kiss on the top of their head. 

It doesn’t take long for them to leave. Alluka is sniffing and crying for the group, gripping Kalluto’s hand as they watch the three leave. Mito is quiet but you can see the fight in her face letting Gon leave with them. It isn’t easy but this isn’t something Gon would be able to stay out of no matter how much she wishes he could.

Armed with the address, they make a plan to case the house first before barging in. If they’re reckless it can end with all of them getting hurt and leading to even worse consequences. Kurapika and Gon stay down the street in a rental car, watching all the guard shifts, who left, what time everybody would leave, etc. Leorio is the one to stay in their hotel room, listening to the radio line that the guards use. They have visible walkie talkies on them so he records and listens to the channel, giving a rough schedule and documenting all of what happened in the house. 

It takes almost a week and it slogs on more and more the longer they have to wait. Leorio is more than ready to barge in and fight whoever he can but he knows if he tries that Killua could be hurt worse if he fails in any way. Not to mention Gon, Kurapika, and the other three at home. It kills him thinking what they could be doing to Killua at any moment on the radio channel. They often laugh and joke about hurting Killua but Kurapika confirms that nothing is actually happening. 

They have a clear view of all the basement windows and there is almost never any movement. None have curtains and shine into lit hallways that have maybe one or two people walking about at the time more guards were relieving them. It almost makes the three wonder what the point of taking him is if they don’t plan to do anything to Killua.

Soon though, it’s finally the time to confront everybody. They have found a small trail behind the house in the woods that surrounds the cul-de-sac. It’s never manned and almost seems like it was a forgotten hiking trail the suburb put through. They park in a street behind the house, sneaking through the trail at night when the final shift change of the night would occur. They always take ages to actually officially change. They will all take their time at the front of the house, laughing and joking together before finally leaving and going to stations. 

The side door is largely overlooked the entire time as well. It’s never locked and never even used either yet it led directly into the basement. It could easily be a trap but they’re too desperate to care at this point as they knew that they could fight off whoever they needed. 

Kurapika gently opens the door, stepping into the pitch black stairway landing. There are some guffaws at the front door and living room that cover the sounds of them coming in, as little as there were. They creep silently down the stairs, sticking to the middle of the step to avoid any kind of creaking. Kurapika stays as lookout as Gon and Leorio go into the small open room directly to the right of the stairs. There’s a closet like room in the very back left of the room that Leorio steps into. Killua is chained towards the back corner, dozing with a steel water cup by his head. 

Leorio can almost cry as he rushes forward as quietly as he can, covering Killua’s mouth as he shakes him awake. The sight of Leorio there in the dark basement almost feels like a dream to Killua so he struck out, trying to hit Leorio’s shoulder. He moves out of the way, furrowing his brows.

“Watch it, Kid. I’m trying to help you back home.” Leorio whispers grumpily. 

Gon hurriedly peeks into the room and grins, motioning for Kurapika to come over. 

It isn’t necessary for Kurapika to pick the lock on the chains around Killua’s wrists. He nonchalantly rips them off, standing up and stretching. He gives a small flinch at the movement and Gon hurries over to support him. 

They don’t have the time to assess what was wrong though as the sounds of chains breaking aren't quiet. There are hurried footsteps on the floor above that nobody misses. Kurapika whirls around and sees a guard rounding the corner. Killua tosses them something and they immediately throw it. It hit the guard’s forehead with a dull sound and they collapse on the ground in a heap. 

It‘s just the first one though. More come down the stairs, holding an array of weapons from a taser to a police baton. Kurapika doesn’t even flinch, quickly subduing the group that is filing in with the help of the other three. They never aim to kill, just hurt enough they couldn’t stand up after they went down. They went quickly with their work. Killua looks like he’s trying to ignore something is wrong and Leorio feels his blood boil. 

The guards are unconscious when the four run out of the house. They know it won’t last and don’t have the time to search for clues to why this happened anymore. If they are going to call backup, so be it. They would be gone before it came. 

Killua is being supported thoroughly by Gon at this point as they leave. Leorio is the last to leave the house and stops dead in his tracks when there is a cold laugh from the driveway. They’re all frozen as a man standing by the street light, watching them stumble out of the house, walks closer.


	7. Chapter 7

Kurapika lets out an angry noise deep in their throat as they turn to face whoever is there, sneering, “Why are you here? Were you behind this?”

“Why, yes, I was. It’s not like you were around to predict it though.” the person says. Their voice is gravelly, like their throat is hurt and never recovered from it. 

“Who is this?” Leorio mutters. It’s dark so he can’t see their face but he feels like he’s heard the voice before. 

“He used to be the right hand man before I replaced him with Melody.” Kurapika spits out. “His name is Kurt. He left the family afterwards but we never were able to keep tabs on him. He always causes trouble for us on missions where we’re dismantling trafficking rings and the like.”

“I was very busy making sure nobody found out where I was, you know. Your spies are very clever.” 

Leorio feels his face burn with fury, saying with the same malice as Kurapika, “What was the point of taking Killua, then? If your target was Kurapika, why go after him?” 

“There wasn’t much. I just needed the Zoldyck family busy. Kurapika always calls them when he’s in a pinch. It’s so annoying. Killua especially was one that came a lot when I was around. I have to say, I never expected that he wasn’t even in the Zoldyck business. I thought he left on his own to live with you, Leorio.”

“We didn’t let people know there were people able to beat the butlers for a reason.” Killua spoke up.

Kurt inclines their head, seeming to flash an insincere smile. “Correct. I was hoping I could get to you and Kalluto but you were so persistent in fighting, I had to just leave.”

“You wanted them out of the way, for what?” Kurapika asks.

“Well, you haven’t been around the last little while. I thought it was best if there was a shake up in the family and quite a few people agreed with me.”

“You wanted them gone so I wouldn’t hire them for your hit,” Kurapika shakes their head, turning to leave. 

“Exactly. But, now that you’re here. I can’t let you leave with this amazing opportunity handed to me.”

“If anybody’s fighting you, it’s me,” Leorio says, stepping in front and blocking Kurapika from view.

“This isn’t about you anymore.” Kurt snarls. “I would love you out of the way too now that you know so much though. So stay right there.”

Kurt doesn't seem interested in talking anymore and rushes forward. Leorio is ready for it, stopping his fist. He dodges around the knee thrown towards his stomach and swiftly headbutts down. He only gets air as Kurt dances away, smiling like this was a game to him. 

Kurapika takes the time Leorio was distracting Kurt to quickly say to the other two, “Hurry back to the car. Here are the keys. I will help Leorio in fighting as this is also my fight. Lay low until we get there.”

Gon nods and takes off. Kurapika soon easily steps in, getting into a boxing stance with Leorio as Kurt quickly tries to fight the two off. 

Leorio is better at hand to hand from pure arm strength than Kurt and soon is catching Kurt’s arms when he throws yet another punch, headbutting him. He sweeps the legs from under Kurt, easily kicking him to the ground. He waits for Kurt to stand again but he soon launches at Kurapika instead from the ground. 

Kurapika blocks with their arms. They duck around and under Kurt, getting into his space. They use their palm to strike upwards towards Kurt’s chin. Kurt dodges, using his shoulder to push Kurapika away to gain space. 

He is panting and out of breath but still laughing lightly. “You guys sure know how to work me. Who knew that I would be so rusty.”

Leorio isn’t listening. He isn’t here to talk. He takes a handful of Kurt’s hair and throws him against the deck that was close by. He doesn’t care about the sick crunch of Kurt’s nose, he picks Kurt’s head up and looks him in the eye.

“I’m a doctor. I swore an oath to do no harm to people. You aren’t worth being called a person. You treat people like they’re beneath you, like stones for you to step across. You don’t deserve to see another day. Especially for hurti-”

A sharp pain cuts him off in his abdomen. Kurt has quickly stabbed him but misses and scraps him. He curses, digging the knife into Leorio’s shoulder in his dazed state before Kurapika throws him away, angrily punching at his head until he is unconscious. 

His ears ring as Leorio sits heavily, Kurapika is yelling something as he’s on top of Kurt but they sound far away. He slumps onto the ground, closing his eyes to calm himself down. He can’t freak out right now and he just has to breathe. 

Kurapika doesn’t spare Kurt another glance, rushing towards Leorio’s collapsed figure. They try to assess what’s bleeding but their hands shake and their eyes are blurry and it is so  _ dark.  _

Out of nowhere, there’s a shrill scream from Kurt then an abrupt silence. Killua is there, Gon nowhere in sight, standing with Kurt’s blood all over his hand. Kurapika can’t help but blink, perplexed at what could have possibly happened. They don’t have the time to stop and talk though because there were lights coming on around them in houses, people opening their doors to see what happened. 

Kurapika swears and quickly puts Leorio’s arm around their own shoulder. Leorio is still conscious but just barely. He’s able to help run off into the path before any police get there. Killua follows, not bothered in the slightest.

“Where’s Gon?” Kurapika asks as they run off.

“When he wasn’t looking I knocked him out. He kept trying to stop me from going back.” Killua answers.

They stumble out into the street behind where they are parked and Gon is quietly put in the back, looking like he was sleeping. Kurapika pushes Leorio into the back after Killua has adjusted Gon to make room. Kurapika gets in the driver's seat. They quickly leave the street, cautiously driving away so as not to be caught by any police.

They can’t see very well as they are so shaky and scared for both Leorio and Killua but they don't want to say anything. 

They all finally make it to the motel and Kurapika picks up Leorio while Gon takes Killua inside the shared room. Leorio is awake but has lost a lot of blood. He’s slurring his words as he gives directions to Kurapika to get his first aid kit from his bag and how to help staunch the blood flow. 

Kurapika sits on the bathroom floor, pressing onto Leorio’s shoulder for ten minutes. He tries to act like it isn’t painful. Of course it is, though. Kurapika can’t help but try to pick their hands up to stop his wincing. Each time they do though Leorio gives a sharp look, reaching with a wince to press their hands back down. 

“Sanitize...you have to wash your...hands really good, Kurapika.” Leorio says when the blood finally starts to clot. “Have to sew me up. I don’t think...be able to do it good. He got my right side.”

Leorio gives a weak smile and Kurapika frowns even deeper. Gon has woken up and is with them as Killua stands in the door, watching the windows so nobody sneaks up on them. Gon holds onto Leorio’s hand and has his head in his lap as Kurapika starts to work. Leorio gives careful instructions the entire time, sounding like he’s almost going to fall asleep the entire time. 

It takes some time but they manage to patch Leorio up and guide him over to one of the beds after wiping off all the blood and cleaning him up a little. He refuses to sleep until Killua lets him look him over. 

“Leorio,” Gon whined, tears in his eyes. “Don’t be so stubborn. Killua’s fine, he said he was fine. You’re hurt.”

Leorio stays resilient though. “I went to school for 4 years and did a two year residency for medicine. I will be the one to look Killua over.”

“I’m fine,” Killua says hoarsely.

“I need to look at you before I let you say that, Killua.” Leorio says sternly. He picks up his penlight that was always on him but Killua bats his hand away, refusing to let him.

“You should...You got hurt worse.”

“If you get to say you’re fine when you’re obviously not- '' Leorio cut himself off as Killua sniffs, rubbing his eyes and gently puts a hand on Killua’s shoulder. He shakes under his hand and Leorio is quick to give Killua tissues.

“What? Are you in pain? Where?”

Killua shakes his head. “You got-All of you got hurt from me. All of you fought for me. You shouldn’t h-have. I would have been fine and I could have handled it. My parents did that when I acted up before I was fine.”

“You shouldn’t deal with this like it’s you alone being affected by you being taken.”

“If you could have done it, why did you not leave?” Kurapika asks.

“Because...They said they would hurt you all. That they had somebody watching the house and that if I tried to fight back then they would hurt Alluka first and they’d bring Leorio here and hurt him in front of me and-”

Leorio gently hugs Killua. “It’s okay. I got hurt but I knew it was dangerous. It was my choice to come get you.”

Killua is shaking and sobbing into Leorio’s shirt and Gon sits with Killua on his other side holding his hand. 

It takes a while before everybody is able to calm down and Leorio is finally able to look him over quickly. It is all he was able to do before he’s pushed back into bed. He almost immediately falls asleep.

He wakes up to Killua and Gon playing cards on the floor with Kurapika reading at the small table set, pushed into the corner of the room. He sits up, gingerly wincing from his shoulder. 

They all react, Gon coming over to help him sit up and Killua running over to the small bags that were by the door, getting out a bottle of juice and some granola bars for Leorio. Kurapika is the one to check his bandaging, giving him a once over. 

“I say, you did a good job last night, Kurapika.” Leorio jokes.

They don’t say anything but there’s a slight curve in their lips as they turn away. Gon is pushing the juice at him so he doesn’t have a chance to ask about what’s happening, where everything was going to go from there. 

It’s not long for it to become a topic though as Kurapika says, “Kurt has died. I will have to leave you all soon to clean up the rest of the people that were trying to get rid of me.”

Leorio makes a small ‘oh’. “You’re leaving so soon?”

“I have to if I want to keep my position. I will leave you all once you are in a new safe house. You will all be closely guarded.”

“By who?” Gon asks. 

Kurapika seems reluctant to say who. “Killua’s father.”

“Absolutely not.” Leorio says flatly. “He is not getting within a breath of Killua.”

“It’s needed and he volunteered. He reached out to me last night after news spread that Killua killed Kurt.”

“Wait you did  _ what?”  _ Leorio asks, turning sharply to Killua.

He shrugs. “You would’ve never and it had to be done. It’s not like there’s police that would be able to keep him for long. He had too many connections to be able to leave wherever he was put. It’s not a big deal.”

“That is a big deal, Killua.” Leorio says sharply. “You don’t have to resort to that anymore.”

“Yes, I did. You would have gotten hurt more by me.”

“That doesn’t matter. You-”

“Of course it matters!” Killua erupts. He’s pale and his eyes are still red. “You’re just a normal doctor. Me and Kurapika don’t belong with a normal life going to school. I was trained to be an assassin. I was trained to know how to hurt people. So what if I use it? It’s what I’m good at.”

“It’s not all you're good at.” Gon speaks up. “You’re good at games, you’re good at helping me with my homework, you’re good at singing, you’re good-”

Killua covers his ears, his face and the tips of his ears visible tinging pink. “Stop, stop! I’m not, I’m not! Just let me go back to my family. Let me go back and this...none of this will happen again.”

“It happened because I was treating Kurapika.” Leorio says calmly. “It happened because I did my job and didn’t give up in treating them. Even if it wasn’t that, if it was because of my association with you, I would gladly put myself in danger if it meant you and Kalluto and Alluka and Gon all stayed safe. I don’t blame you and I don’t blame Kurapika because this is what I wanted.”

It’s a heavy moment of silence in the room. 

“What if we take turns protecting the house?” Gon asks into that heavy silence.

“No, none of you would be as effective as Silva. He offered and I said yes. I need to establish myself as leader again so it will be a while and you can’t all be in charge of protecting yourselves because-”

“You don’t have to establish yourself as leader again.” Leorio says quietly, cutting Kurapika off. 

“What? Yes, I do.”

“There are other ways to accomplish what you wish.” Leorio’s voice is low and he isn’t looking at Kurapika. But there’s a set line of his jaw and it's infuriating.

“You don’t-yes I...I’m not talking about this. You and Killua have to sleep. We’ll all go back tomorrow and we’ll let Mito know what’s happening.”

Kurapika leaves then. The door isn’t slammed but it’s not a nice sound to hear the finality of the door knob. Gon deflates, flopping onto his back on the floor and Killua is stone faced.

“Get some sleep.” Leorio says gently. 

Killua doesn’t move immediately but Gon plops into his bed and pushes him down with a pillow on his face. It almost results in the two starting a pillow fight but Leorio is quick to intercept.

“You’re no fun now that you’re an old man.” Killua says and Gon laughs at that.

“We should knock Leorio out so we can have a pillow fight!” Gon says.

“You would hurt an injured old man? Gon, what would Mito say.” Leorio stuffs Gon’s head down into the bed but soon let's go, turning off the big room light. The lamps beside the beds are the only light now and Killua looks even more exhausted from this. “You guys can play later. Now it’s time to sleep. We’ll keep the door unlocked because I’m the only one with the room keys.”

Leorio isn’t asleep for a long time though. He stays awake, staring at the ceiling for what feels like hours. There’s a soft noise from his phone and he looks at it idly, seeing it’s Kurapika. They texted saying they would be back to the room soon. 

Twenty minutes later, Kurapika steps in quietly and Leorio sits up. He moves to get off the bed but they shake their head. Leorio doesn’t listen though, motioning for them to follow him outside again. It might not have been the smartest move after what happened that night but it’s necessary.

“I’m sorry if I was out of line earlier.” Leorio says as the door closes behind them. 

They both stare ahead into the parking lot but Leorio can’t help looking out of the corner of his eye at Kurapika. They look beautiful in the moonlight and it takes the breath from him. His next words are lost at the sight because their eyes are brown but thrumming softly with traces of red in his iris’. There are soft traces of brown roots poking out of their blond and Leorio almost wants to run his hands through it to see how far they go. 

It’s a small and fast urge that passes quickly and Leorio stuffs his good arm into his pockets, choosing to look at his feet on the concrete instead. 

“You were right in some aspects. I do not have to go back for what I want to do...I just cannot think of another way to take down the family that killed my clan.”

Leorio nods. “There probably isn’t much. I don’t understand, you’re right. But I would like to help with what I can understand.”

Kurapika gives a small smile, glancing at Leorio. “Thank you. This isn’t something I could leave to others. I can….I can’t lose any more of my family.”

It’s so soft Leorio almost doesn’t hear it but it sinks between them and it takes a moment too long for it to process. It brings a burning heat to his eyes and he has to blink rapidly to make it go away and he wants so badly to reach out and say something but he doesn’t know  _ what  _ to say.

He settles on gently threading his fingers through Kurapika’s. He thinks they’ll pull away but they don’t. They shift closer, their shoulders brushing as they stand together. There’s nothing more to say but Leorio knows he should say something about what could happen, the future about what Kurapika will do, how they’ll go back to normal after this. 

But he doesn’t. He can leave that conversation for later. He’s thinking of this moment and it hits him hard in the chest as he realizes ‘ _ oh, so this is what happens when you love somebody. _ ’ It feels so natural and something he should have already known but having this small moment after something so intense and draining happened, it’s the natural progression for them. He isn’t quite sure what to do about it but holding Kurapika’s hand feels right so he doesn’t let go.

Both stay silent, standing on the doorstep to a beaten down motel, staring at the sky or stealing quick glances at the other when they think the other won’t be looking. It’s broken by Kurapika.

“I left earlier to make some calls. The death of Kurt will be ruled as an accidental death from impalement on a pipe. There was a lot of trash in the driveway when we were there so it is not far fetched. The people inside have been dealt with and the house has been set on fire.”

Leorio’s eyebrows go into his hair, turning to look at Kurapika. “Th-The house? Why! Why did you-”

“There is no evidence of us being there, the people inside either died or won’t retaliate, and the neighbours will believe the accidental death of Kurt because he was trying to escape from the house and also our yelling.”

“I mean...yeah, I guess. But did they really have to die..?”

“Yes, it may seem excessive but it has worked before and will continue to work. Silva is also on his way to our home and Mito has been told about it. We will be able to set off tomorrow whenever we are all ready.”

Leorio feels his heart beat irregularly when Kurapika says  _ our home  _ and ignores it. He lets out a long breath, ignoring the twinge of pain from his ribs as he did. “We need to go to bed. Come on, we can deal with everything else tomorrow.”

Kurapika nods and they both go back into the room. Killua is asleep, Gon sprawls over half of him. Leorio smiles, knowing they’re both finally safe. The other two climb into the other bed. There’s a moment of hesitation after Kurapika slips their hand out of Leorio’s to change into a sweater and looser pants. It doesn’t last long though and soon both are falling asleep.

The next day is a little chaotic as they pick up to leave, hurriedly rushing out to the car so as not to be seen for too long in the daylight. Killua is insistent they be as careful as possible and only relaxed when they are gone on the highway.

Killua and Gon are updated on what happened to Kurt and the other people and Killua excitedly praises the way it was handled. Leorio furrows his eyebrows at that but didn’t want to take away from Killua getting excited. 

It’s dispelled when they finally get around to the question of, “What now?”

“I will still be leaving to re-establish myself and find the dissenters.” Kurapika says simply. There’s an edge to his voice though and Leorio isn’t sure if it’s anger or sadness. 

“How long will you be gone?” Gon asks.

“I don’t know. Silva will be there and he wouldn’t hurt Killua.”

Leorio snorts. “He won’t because he plays favourites. The other two, we can’t be too sure.”

Killua doesn’t comment in this conversation, staying quiet and he stares out the window in the back. His brooding doesn’t last long because Gon throws a chip at his face. Soon they’re trying to see who can get the longest streak of catching food in their mouth and the heavier mood in the car is all but gone. 

They get home that evening and there’s a flurry of movement at the door. Kalluto, Mito, and Alluka all rush to the car. Leorio is all but pushed over as he’s walking up the driveway by Kalluto with Alluka doing the same to Killua. Gon is smothered by Mito as she wipes her eyes on her sleeve, checking him over. There is a fourth person on the porch and Leorio glares at him briefly before ignoring Silva completely, talking to Kalluto and Alluka softly.

“Leorio, you’re hurt, why are you hurt? What happened?” Alluka is asking through her cries. 

He ruffles her hair with a smile. “It’s nothing. It should be fine in a couple weeks. It’s shallow and didn’t hit anything important. I just need the sling just in case so it doesn’t tear or move around.too much when I’m walking.”

Kalluto stays silent but clings to the back of his shirt as they move into the house. Silva has gone from the porch and Leorio is glad. He looked almost smug. He can’t stand it.

Silva is inside, drinking some tea on the living room couch. It’s a sight Leorio wishes isn’t happening. He feels his head throb in his anger but quickly swallows it, knowing he wouldn’t win in a fight against Silva in a million years. He might have won against butlers but not this.

“Hello, Leorio.” Silva greets him. 

He doesn’t respond, just lets himself be ushered into the kitchen by the kids. 

They’re beside themselves with relief as Kurapika, Gon, Killua, and Leorio all sit in the kitchen. They explain what happened and what will happen. Mito looks as thunderous as Leorio felt but soon also clamps down on it. Both know this was for the best and it couldn’t be helped. It just couldn’t be helped. 

But then Kurapika has to actually leave and Leorio is glad the kids are all keeping them from leaving immediately because Leorio can’t stand seeing them turn to go. But they have to so finally the kids reluctantly let them finally start to depart through the front door. 

They pause though, looking back at Leorio and asking, “Can I talk to you for a second?”

“Uh, yeah!” Leorio steps confidently out, following them to the side of the house where nobody can see them when they peered out. 

There’s a beat of silence as Kurapika doesn’t turn around and Leorio stays positioned, watching them curiously.

“What’s up?” Leorio finally asks. 

They don’t answer but they turn around and their eyes are a brilliant scarlet, one of the most wonderful reds Leorio has ever seen. The eyes are suddenly so close to his own and he’s being pulled down by his collar and their lips are soft against Leorio’s and he reels. He doesn’t pull back though, using his good hand to cup Kurapika’s chin gently and kisses back gently, letting his eyes close. 

Kurapika is careful of Leorio’s shoulder as they grip Leorio’s shirt, pressing as close as they dare. Leorio doesn’t mind and can feel himself smiling because it’s right, this is what they should have done the day before. 

They break apart and Kurapika is still gripping his shirt and his hand is running a small line along their cheekbones. Their eyes are still that beautiful and vivid red and Leorio thinks he could stare forever.

“Are you trying to tell me something?” Leorio teases when they pull back. 

Kurapika’s face is pink and there’s a determined look in his eyes. “Yes. I am before I never get the chance to again.”

Leorio blinks, looking at Kurapika. “Why would you not have this chance to again?”

They shake their head, stepping back. “I...I have to go.”

He smiles, nodding. “When you’re back, I’ll take you on a date then. Be careful.”

Kurapika wants to say something, Leorio can tell. They don’t though, nodding. They’re biting their lip and Leorio wants to run his hand along it so they stop but he doesn’t. His hand drops from their face and Kurapika is gone without another word. Leorio watches them leave, leaning against the corner of the house and they’re gone just like that. 

The kids don’t suspect anything and he wants to keep it that way. They’re too busy with other problems. Silva hurt the three Zoldyck kids and after so long away from that, they’re all skittish. Killua is the easiest going around his father by far but Alluka hid behind Leorio the most because Killua is too near her father. 

It hurts to watch his kids be so fearful in their own homes. He hates that they were scared to do anything or be too loud or have fun after so much had happened. They deserve to be able to feel safe and loved. Silva took that away with just being in the house. 

He can’t wait for the day Silva leaves. 

But it’s weeks later. There’s dead silence from Kurapika and there was no sure way to know if that was a good thing or not. Silva doesn’t do much, mainly doing things like training in the backyard or sitting leisurely on the couch most days. The kids go back to school eventually and the absence is explained as a very extensive and intense flu that ripped through the four. The teachers were delighted to have them back and didn’t ask any further because Killua’s bruising and scratches had also healed by then.

Everyday Leorio sends an update to Kurapika. He calls, texts, and emails. Everyday there was no response. It dug into him and he can’t stop some nights wondering if that kiss was real or not. He can’t imagine doing that to somebody before leaving their life entirely. But maybe he didn’t know Kurapika like he thought.

Maybe those months they spent living together, helping raise children with Mito, maybe they were all an act for him. Leorio isn’t sure but he isn’t going to give up. He wants an explanation. He needs to know Kurapika is alright.

He just wishes it hadn’t taken so long. Silva was here infesting their home and his feelings are hard to stamp down.

Leorio tries to be patient. He really does. But Silva talking to Killua like nothing and trying to parent him and Kalluto and using the wrong terms for Alluka, it was digging into Leorio’s gut every single time. He is careful to never misgender Alluka and Kalluto in front of Killua. It is always when it’s just him and Leorio in the room and he asks a seemingly innocent question. It’s always something about schooling or life in general.

The frustration and hatred and anger over the entire situation is boiling and bubbling just under the surface and he is so taut, he isn’t sure how long this can last. 

Mito is fairing no better. She helped Leorio as he helped her when he first started becoming the parent for the three. She stayed with him when Alluka was crying at night and was too scared to go to bed because she wasn’t sure if she would be able to leave the room in the morning. She stayed to help Killua with homework because both him and Gon struggled in the same areas in school and she was good at helping. Seeing Silva stand there treating the children like puppets, obviously toying with her and Leorio as they knew he was needed and they couldn;t relent. It was so angering the two often had to sit on the front steps and stew in their own angry silence together. 

It‘s one of these nights that they start talking and it comes to Leorio mentioning how he had no word from Kurapika. The look on his face had to have given something away.

“You like them.” Mito isn’t asking but Leorio nods.

“When we...Before they left. They kissed me. I don’t know when but...I really do like them. I kind of realized...I realized when I was with them after everything. We were standing outside and it hit me.” Leorio leans his head on his hands, running it through his hair. “I didn’t know what to do and I still don’t.”

“Did they say anything before they left?”

“They said that they wanted to do this once before they wouldn’t be able to again.”

Mito frowns and Leorio realizes what that could have meant. It hurts to think about and he doesn’t want to say it and make it a reality. Mito does it for him.

“They sound like they never really wanted to come back.”

He shouldn’t feel it in his gut like he does. He knows this might have been why. He’s been wondering for weeks if Kurapika was ever coming back, coming  _ home.  _

Mito doesn’t say anything else as these thoughts hit him and Leorio doesn’t feel the need to keep talking either. Both sit in silence again until there’s feet running against the floor down the hall behind them and through the screen door Alluka comes out, grinning. 

“I helped make cookies again!” she says, beaming still. 

Leorio uses this as a distraction and scoops her up. He’s glad that his shoulder is healed now because this always makes her giggle when she’s held like a sack of potatoes on his shoulder. He tries to ignore the gnawing feeling in his stomach. Ignore the pit forming by helping his kids.

It’s not easy to ignore with the amount of unanswered texts though. The missed calls that sometimes go straight to voicemail. The emails that sit in his inbox that aren’t from Kurapika.

He goes back to work and it's another few months passing by. They could almost forget everything happened if Silva isn’t there and constantly making his children hurt. They started getting used to it and it’s easier but there are moments. Small moments where they would flinch because he stands up or cower because he’s talking to them a little too loud. 

Alluka is a constant presence at his side. Kalluto is a small shadow that goes from room to room but will sometimes be with Alluka behind Leorio. He tries to take them to parks and to things for school as much as possible by cutting back on working as much as he can. 

He knows it’s not the same without him there full time at home but he can’t risk losing the job as he isn’t sure if one day they would be told to leave the house. He wants to have money to fall back on just in case anything happens. 

The days are long and hard for Leorio without Kurapika and he can’t stop wondering in his idle moments where they are or if they’re alright. They have a habit of not eating right and doing dangerous things in place of staying safe if it means their goal was met and it aches knowing they might not be even eating right. 

It’s silly to Leorio, feeling so intensely for somebody he isn’t sure he even knew anymore. He loves deeply though and longs for a day when Kurapika would call them again. 

That one day comes a year after Killua had come home. A year of Leorio wondering if he was right in falling for somebody he isn’t sure he knows. A year of missed calls, no texts, and no emails. 

His phone is almost dead and he’s barely awake but his phone rings and he bolts upright. He doesn’t have his glasses on but it’s one am and whoever is calling, it has to be important. 

The number is something he doesn’t know. He’s puzzled and about to roll over again but he doesn’t. He reaches out and answers. He hears running and panting on the other end.

“Hello?” He says.

“Leorio, meet me somewhere. Bring a first aid kit.” Kurapika says.

There was instant relief hearing their voice. The familiar tone of warmth that’s reserved just for Leorio even in dire situations. The warmth he felt doesn’t last and is doused when the words register. “What? Where are you? Why do you need a first aid kit?”

“Can’t explain. Just meet me by the park on 32nd. You and I took the kids there many times.”

There’s no more to say as they hang up. Leorio stares at the screen, his reflection looking back at him. He isn’t sure what to do. Silva is in the house. He doesn’t want to leave. But Kurapika is in trouble.

He makes his decision as he pushes the blanket off and gets dressed, throwing on jeans and a sweater. He hurriedly texts Mito where he’s going. He doesn’t want to make noise if it isn't possible and wake Mito up. This feels like something he has to do on his own.

The familiar path to the park is almost comforting as he goes. His first aid kit is more extensive than others so it’s heavy on his shoulder as he walks. He rounds the corner to the park and almost hesitates, wondering if this is a trap. Kurapika wouldn’t do that though so he steps through the gates of the park and sits at a small table that is set up for the parents to sit around.

He isn’t sure how far Kurapika is from the park and starts getting nervous and almost stands up to go look if Kurapika is already there. He’s relieved when he sees a figure sprinting down the road though, the bright blond a stark contrast to the night under the street lights. 

Kurapika comes through the fence and pauses, searching for Leorio before they see him. Their breathing is erratic and their eyes are wild but they smile, like this is exactly what is needed. Leorio just waits for them to get closer.

The small pit in his stomach hasn’t lessened. He needs to know this is for real. He needs to know this isn’t just Kurapika needing him for first aid before leaving again. But they can’t stop themselves when Kurapika rushes to them and he reaches out to pull them into a hug and bury his face into their hair. They cling to him, panting still. 

“I’m sor...I’m so sorry.” Kurapika says. It's muffled against Leorio’s shoulder. 

“Where were you?” Leorio asks. His voice almost breaks near the end but he manages to keep it steady.

“It’s done. I...I buried my clan and....the family’s dead. All of them. I just killed their leader.”

Leorio is floored from this and feels his knees threaten to give out. He pulls away and can’t help but cup Kurapika’s face like he did so many months ago. Their eyes are bright red again and they look exhausted and battered. There’s new and old bruises and scratches that are just barely healed hiding under new ones on their arms, hands, their neck, face. But they’re empty. Their eyes have a dullness to them that scares Leorio. He knows that look from victims of tragedy in the ER coming through or domestic violence victims having to go back home to their abuser. 

It makes him falter in interrogating Kurapika, demanding where they were for so long. He pulls back and leads them to the bench and sits them down. He starts looking over the small scratches and Kurapika lets him touch wherever he wants to check them over. They don’t offer any other explanation as to where they were and Leorio lets the silence be. They’ll talk in time. 

The air between them is so tense because of so many unspoken things though. Kurapika is staring at Leorio’s hands as they work to bandage and clean the small scrapes they had never bothered with. It’s something to keep him busy of course. Something for them both to focus on instead of actually thinking about the last time they saw each other. 

But soon they have to and Kurapika stays silent. Leorio can’t let it be and after dropping the garbage into a small plastic bag and sealing it, he turns to them. 

“You don’t have to tell me but...Why did you call me tonight?” Leorio closes his eyes, biting his lip. “Why did you come back after a year of nothing?”

They don’t answer right away and Leorio expects he won’t get an answer. He stands to leave them there, to throw out everything in a small garbage bin on the playground and go home to his children, Mito, and Gon. He turns but stops when Kurapika catches his arm, still not looking at him. 

“I already told you. I couldn’t lose any more of my family.”

It’s such a soft spoken statement again and it hits Leorio the same. He feels himself crying and he sits back down. He buries his head into a hand. Kurapika looks up, alarmed.

“Are you going to disappear again after this?” Leorio asks slowly.

“...No, I am...I took care of everything. The family is gone and the families are scrambling. Because I took them down I have to stay low for a while. I came to let you know this is over. You can go back home. Nobody knows where you are or where you lived that’s alive. You could go back to your job and home and leave here.”

“How do you know everything is finished?”

“Because I helped dismantle one of the biggest families in the mafia. They will be scrambling to get power but I have moles to take care of them whenever they try. They won’t recover for a while.”

“So I just go back to my job at the hospital like it’s nothing? Leave you like it’s nothing?”

Kurapika stares at Leorio who stares back. They don’t want that and he doesn’t either. It's so painfully laid out between them. So they shake their head.

“If you will have me, I will stay with you.”

“To protect us again then disappear once your job is done?”

“No. I will not be leaving your side for a very long time.”

Kurapika looks away, trying to wonder if they said too much. Leorio lets out a laugh, one of relief and happiness. It makes them look over, almost startled at how easily Leorio sounds so relaxed out of nowhere. 

Leorio tilts Kurapika’s chin up and nods. “Okay. I still owe you a date.”

It breaks their tension and they both lean in. They’re giddy and it feels like they’re in high school sneaking kisses in between classes in a deserted hall. They laugh into the kisses and smile widely and almost don’t want to separate. But Leorio has to go home. He has to make sure his kids are fine and that Silva leaves. 

So they do. They walk back to Leorio and Mito’s house, Kurapika’s house again, and all the lights are on. There’s a group huddled on the porch and Leorio sees Killua’s snow white hair and Gon’s bright green shoes first. They’re playing something on the steps with the other three behind them sitting around the porch. Silva is within the door watching as well and almost looks fond at Killua. When they’re spotted, the game’s forgotten and the group all run out to meet them. Silva stays where he is. It suits Leorio just fine.

The kids are all chattering and so, so happy to see Kurapika again. Mito looks skeptically at them but still recieves them with grace. 

It’s with glee that Leorio gets to turn to Silva and say, “You can go back to Kukuroo mountain now. We’re safe.”

“And how do you know?” Silva asks, crossing his arms.

“Because I took care of it. The last year, I have been taking care of it.” Kurapika answers. “The Phantom Troupe is in shambles currently.”

That elicits an eyebrow raise from Silva. Killua and Kalluto both look amazed at the statement. Kurapika doesn’t explain as much as they did to Leorio and is to the point and short. Silva almost doesn’t believe it.

“I will go as I am no longer needed. Killua, would you like to stay as well?” Silva asks. 

“Yeah, I like going to school. I’ll stick around for a little while longer.” Killua’s hands are in his pockets but Leorio can tell it’s because they’re shaking. 

Silva almost frowns but nods, crouching in front of his son. “Make sure to remember what your mother and I taught you. Never go back on your word and stay loyal.”

He finishes by messing Killua’s hair and he smiles. Within the hour, Silva is gone. Leorio feels the intense weight of the situation finally,  _ finally  _ lifting. Alluka and Kalluto visibly relax when their father disappears. Killua looks a little mournful though, scuffing his shoes along the ground. 

Everybody trails off back to bed after that. Leorio is the last to go though because Killua is standing at the door to the basement, looking at him almost expectantly. Leorio walks over to him, looking at him curiously.

“What’s up, kiddo?” He asks. 

Killua doesn’t answer right away and looks at the ground. Finally, he says, “Do you really think I was abused?”

“What brought this up?” Leorio asks, shocked. 

“He was nice to me. He was really nice to me all this time. But you always said he was horrible and mean and abusive to me and the other two.”

Killua isn’t talking very loud and Leorio almost has to sit on the ground. His anger boils again that had dissipated after Silva left. He sighs and motions for Killua to sit with him on the back deck. They both settle in on the steps and Leorio doesn’t speak right away.

When he does he says, “When I was younger my parents weren’t nice to me.”

“I thought you said you never had parents?”

“I don’t consider them more than people I lived with after I was five. They both lost their jobs and couldn’t get money so we were in the slums. They started fighting a lot and would yell at me. It escalated to physical stuff when I was older. By 14, I ran away. I lived in another town and did my best to finish what little schooling I had gotten to get to med school.” Leorio pauses and stares at the sky, leaning back on his elbows. “When they found out where I was living and I was in med school, it was like they had never hit me before. Like there had never been the nights I was crying to sleep from them fighting. They denied they ever laid a finger on me, even.”

“But hitting kids is bad.” Killua mumbles. 

Leorio nods. “Your case is no different. It was abuse because they deliberately hurt you.”

Killua sniffles, wiping at his eyes. Leorio sits up again and wraps an arm around him. He waits for Killua to talk again and it takes a moment for him to be able to talk through the lump in his throat. 

“I didn’t deserve that.” Killua says in a small voice.

“Of course you didn’t. Neither did Alluka or Kalluto or me. We were kids. The parents chose to hurt us for whatever reason. It’s hard but what happened was real and, honestly, fucked up.”

Killua nods silently. They sit together quietly. He feels happy Killua knows he didn’t deserve what he got but it’s bittersweet. He shouldn’t have been through it at all to begin with. It kicks at him and gnaws inside knowing how miserable Killua must feel, knowing his parents he looked up to weren’t all they were cracked up to be. It makes him want to melt into the ground and never experience an emotion.

But he stays beside Killua until he’s calm enough to go inside and into bed. 

The next month is a whirlwind of activity. It starts with them packing. Mito is in charge of that as Leorio takes care of re-enrolling the kids back into their old school and all the paperwork for that. Then he has to put in a two weeks notice at work and finish that. He helps pack and get everybody ready and soon they’re moving home. 

It’s another bittersweet moment for the small family but when they’re able to walk in with their suitcases to their homes, it’s soon forgotten. The whole ordeal of pain and fear and uncertainty is over. They are safe. They may be part of the Zoldyck family by blood but they were Leorio’s kids. They would choose what they wanted to do. 

Leorio sat in his room, dusting and straightening it up as the kids did the same. Kurapika came through after making sure the truck they used was taken back and paid for. They smile at Leorio and sit on the bed next to him.

He leans on to their shoulder, tired after so much happening so fast. He pushes them back so Kurapika is held in their arms, burying their face into Kurapika’s neck. They had done this many times and the kids all were very happy when they found out that Leorio was finally with somebody that made him happy. But everytime they laid together it felt like it relaxed him beyond words. 

He gives a small hum, suddenly picking up his head. Kurapika looks at him too, their eyes that wonderful scarlet. 

“We never had our date yet.” He says.

Kurapika laughs and it’s a sound Leorio wishes he could hear more. The blankness in Kurapika’s eyes isn’t gone but it’s lessened now and life is slowly coming back to them. Leorio sees it whenever their eyes are scarlet, watching him play pretend with Kalluto and Alluka or when he comes home exhausted and flops onto Kurapika. The life is coming back to him after so long of only thinking of what he needed to do for his clan. 

After so long, Kurapika is finally thinking what would come next for themselves. They finally had their family again and they helped plan dinners for the week, they made pillow forts with Leorio’s kids, Leorio held his hand as they quietly talked on movie nights in the darkness. They had a life outside of revenge and the Mafia and they are so, so excited for it to be intertwined with Leorio and his family. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay this is the final chapter and im so uwu bc i rlly had fun doing this i like started it a year ago before the big bang even started bye im so happy with what i did with it idk i think its good hehe  
> if u wanna follow me my tumblr is chadleorio and my twitter is gothpass i mostly tweet abt mdzs/tgcf but hxh has a spcial place in my heart bc leorio exists


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